Death toll in India mounts to 7,000

 Rescue workers stacked piles of bodies and ferried relief to survivors as relatives burnt and buried their near and dear ones along the southeastern coast.

 With the count of the dead going up by leaps and bounds in Sri Lanka, the toll in the island nation more than doubled to 12,000, including 70 foreigners, even as many were reported still missing.

 Tamil Nadu reported a toll of 3,200, followed by Andaman and Nicobar Island, where the magnitude of the disaster there came to light today, with 3000 dead and another 2000 missing. An entire airbase in Car Nicobar island was virtually wiped off and nearly 100 IAF personnel and their family members went missing.

 In Tamil Nadu, the worst hit was Nagapattinam, accounting for 1700 deaths, while the toll in Kanniyakumari stood at 525, Cuddalore 400 and Chennai city 200.

 The neighbouring Union Territory of Pondicherry reported a loss of 377 lives, including 265 in Karaikal, an enclave surrounded by Tamil Nadu. Rains hindered relief work in Nagapattinam.

 In Kerala, the toll rose to 146 and in Andhra Pradesh 77.

 In New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a relief of Rs one lakh to the next of the kin of each of those killed in these states from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund. He would also undertake an aerial survey of the affected areas tomorrow.