Deadly tsunamis that swept across the countries in the Indian Ocean rim Sunday have left about 1,600 Swedish tourists missing, Swedish public radio reported Tuesday.

Swedish travel agencies said they failed to get contact so far with those people after the disastrous Asian tidal waves, triggered by a huge earthquake of 8.7 on Richter scale according to the China Seismological Bureau.

The Swedish government said Monday that at least 10 people died in Thailand, and the number might rise as nearly 10,000 Swedes were on holiday in the tsunami-stricken region.

So far, there is no official figures from the Swedish Foreign Ministry.

Hundreds of foreigners were reportedly killed or missing. Thai deputy interior minister said Tuesday that more than 700 foreign tourists are believed to have died in the tsunamis.

Many of the foreign tourists were spending their Christmas vacation in this region.

The earthquake hit at 6:58 am (0058 GMT) Sunday off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The death toll has risen to more than 25,000.

Source: Xinhua