Two more Japanese were confirmed to have been killed by last week's tsunami in Thailand, Japan's Foreign Ministry said Sunday, raising the country's death toll from the disaster to 20. Rescuers had been looking for the two after they went missing from Phi Phi island, which was virtually wiped out by massive earthquake-triggered waves that slammed into coastal areas across much of Asia on Dec. 26. The bodies were found from among those taken to the nearby town of Krabi, a ministry official said on condition of anonymity. At the request of relatives, the ministry did not identify the victims. Kyodo News reported the bodies were of a woman in her 50s and her son. Tokyo has now confirmed the deaths of eight Japanese who were on a safari tour in Sri Lanka and 12 Japanese who were visiting Thai beach resorts. Japan's Foreign Ministry has not said how many of its citizens are missing, but Kyodo News estimated there were at least 12 Japanese still missing after being swept up by the tsunami. The news agency counted about another 30 travelers and residents of countries affected by the waves whose whereabouts haven't been confirmed.
