Unidentified dead in Thai tsunami at 388

BANGKOK, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- The Thai Tsunami Victim Identification and Repatriation Center said 388 bodies remain unidentified from a deadly tsunami nearly four years ago.

Center Director Nitinai Sornsongkram said with Friday's fourth anniversary of the Thai tsunami, hundreds of bodies left in the wake of the deadly storm have yet to be identified, the Thai News Agency said Wednesday.

Sornsongkram said the center received 3,696 bodies in February 2005 in the wake of the storm. Of those recovered bodies, 3,308 were eventually returned to their families.

Despite the length of time since the tsunami, Sornsongkram said center officials were still trying to identify the 388 remaining victims.

Relatives also reported 455 other missing individuals since the 2004 tsunami triggered by a major earthquake.

The tsunami killed more than 5,000 people when large waves struck Thailand's Andaman coastal provinces.