Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels look for survivors in waters west of Phuket.

Even as officials continue to gather information on those still unaccounted for, the Foreign Ministry reported that as of Wednesday afternoon the bodies of 13 Japanese killed by Sunday's tsunami had been identified.

A day after being shown the wrong remains to identify, the parents of company employee Naoko Kakinoki, 27, of Fukuoka Prefecture, identified their daughter's body at a hospital in Phuket, Thailand, on Wednesday.

The ministry has also confirmed that three Japanese children were killed in the Phuket area, officials said Wednesday.

Two of them, elementary school kids, were identified as Kai Oshima, 9, and his sister, Sara, 6. Their parents, Tamaki and Noriko Oshima, of Yokohama both survived the tsunami.

The body of Kaito Yoshino, the 8-year-old son of Sadayuki Yoshino, 41, first secretary at the Japanese Embassy in Bangkok, was also identified. However, Yoshino remains missing.

In Sri Lanka, members of a package tour organized by Tokyo-based agent Tairiku Ryoyu identified the body of a group member, bringing the number of deceased identified to eight as of Wednesday evening.

The group of 17 was hit by tsunami on a trip to Yala National Park in southern Sri Lanka. Five survived and four remain missing.

A member of a package tour in Phuket is also still missing, officials said.

Officials say many more Japanese traveling independently in the tsunami-hit areas remain unaccounted for.

The Foreign Ministry said it has been informed by the Thai government that bodies found in Phuket and nearby areas will be cremated after fingerprints are taken, along with other evidence such as dental impressions and hair needed for later DNA testing.

Authorities say the cremations are necessary because they have no means of preserving the huge numbers of bodies that are rapidly decomposing and becoming a serious health threat.

Elsewhere, the ministry has been able to confirm that every employee of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is safe.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura discussed the extent of the devastation in a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

The two men agreed on the need for Tokyo and Washington to act swiftly to organize an international effort to bring aid to the disaster-hit areas.

Also on Wednesday, two Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers, the Kirishima and Takanami, and the supply ship Hamana, arrived off the coast of Phuket and began the search for victims.

The vessels were on their way back to Japan from the Indian Ocean, where they were providing logistical support for the multinational anti-terrorism effort in Afghanistan, when they were redirected to assist in search-and-rescue operations in Thailand.

The Takanami retrieved a male body Wednesday about 13 kilometers off the coast of Phuket. An onboard helicopter was used to transport the body to the Phuket airport. The deceased appeared, based on his belongings, to be a Thai national.

At the request of the Thai government, Defense Agency officials said the MSDF ships will continue to search for and pick up people stranded on islands in waters west of Phuket.

The MSDF plans to continue the use of its onboard helicopters.(IHT/Asahi: December 30,2004)