The Thai government announced Friday that more than 4,500 people perished in the tsunami disaster -- almost half of them foreigners.

Another 6,475 were missing, the Interior Ministry said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has warned that Thailand's death toll could approach 7,000.

Rescue and identification groups focused their efforts on a 30-kilometer stretch of beach in the north of the resort island of Phuket, where the Interior Minister said 3,500 bodies had been recovered.

Source: Xinhua