India quake wave death toll rises

Whole communities were swept away

At least 3,500 people died after huge waves swept into southern Indian states following the world's most powerful earthquake for 40 years, officials say.

Tamil Nadu disaster officials confirmed 2,890 dead there alone. Other deaths on the mainland were in the territory of Pondicherry, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

Police in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands fear at least 3,000 perished.

Bodies are strewn along much of India's 2,000km (1,200-mile) east coast. A huge search is under way for survivors.

Whole communities were swept away without warning, buildings engulfed by walls of water up to 10m high. Entire fishing fleets are feared lost.

Mass burial

In Tamil Nadu, volunteers spent Monday digging out bodies from the sand near Cuddalore, some 150km (90 miles) south of state capital, Madras (Chennai).

At least 400 people lost their lives at Cuddalore.

At a very conservative estimate, I would say about 3,000 people are dead and nearly as many are missing Andamans police chief SB Deol Andaman Islands' toll soars Eyewitness: Islands' tragedy

The waves buried the bodies in the sand, hiding them from view, but correspondents said the stench was unmistakeable.

"We must have dug some seven or eight pits and buried 25, 30, 35 bodies in each of them," said gravedigger Shekhar.

"I've never buried so many in a single day in my life."

In Pondicherry, a former French colony now administered federally, 200 of the dead were given a mass burial on Monday, police told the BBC.

More bodies are still being found. Survivors have been given shelter in schools, halls and temples.

Fishermen were swept off the sea

Witnesses in Madras spoke of huge columns of water surging towards land without warning early on Sunday. Water came several kilometres inland.

Indian air force helicopters have been despatched to evacuate people living in the submerged areas.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was deeply shocked by the devastation.

"My heartfelt sympathies are with the families of the bereaved, and with all those affected in our country," he said in a televised broadcast.

Andamans hit

Casualty figures on India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands could not be confirmed, but police fear the death toll could run into thousands.

Air force helicopters have been pressed into service

"At a very conservative estimate, I would say about 3,000 people are dead and nearly as many are missing," police chief SB Deol told reporters.

More than 121 people have also died in Kerala, a key tourist destination on India's west coast.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said many people were still missing from coastal areas and he expected casualty numbers to rise.

In Andhra Pradesh state, the death toll has risen to 96, the authorities say.

But there was relief for many coastal communities when most of 800 fishermen missing since Sunday's sea surges returned to port.

Navy helicopters and coast guard vessels helped located some of them.