The number of missing Russians who are known to encounter a devastating tsunami on Dec. 26 on the Thai island of Phuket has gradually decreased to 36, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said on Tuesday.

"This figure has been determined based on updated information from our crisis center and Thai immigration authorities," Yakovenko was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

The Foreign Ministry crisis center and the Russian Embassy are working with four lists of Russian citizens who met with the tsunami disaster in Thailand, he said.

In the first list the people who were not hurt in the disaster area has established 730 as of Jan. 4, Yakovenko said.

The second list includes 10 people who were killed in the disaster. Two out of them were identified and their bodies were taken away, he continued.

The third list includes missing people who were definitely known to vacation on Phuket when the tsunami occurred. The number of these missing people has been gradually becoming shorter and now includes 36 people, he said.

The fourth list registered people who were vacationing on Thailand, including in areas that were not affected by the tsunami.There are now 130 people on this list, Yakovenko said.

A total of 380 Russian tourists have been airlifted from Thailand's island of Phuket in Jan. 1-4, Interfax quoted head of Moscow Association of Travel Agencies Pavel Klark as reporting on Tuesday.

Source: Xinhua