Likely U.S. death toll stands at 35
 | |
|  VIDEO |
 U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell tours Aceh devastation.
 Accounting for loved ones difficult for relatives in the U.S.
|
|
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Thirty-five Americans are confirmed or presumed dead in the aftermath of last week's killer tsunamis, according to Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Maura Harty.
On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department initally said that 20 Americans were presumed dead and 16 were confirmed dead in Thailand and Sri Lanka.
Upon further evaluation, officials learned that one of the victims was duplicated in the tally. Plus, the number of Americans confirmed dead rose to 17.
As a result, the number of presumed dead now stands at 18, for a total of 35.
Another State Department official said the confusion is a "perfect indication as to what they're up against" in trying to make an accurate determination as to how many Americans were killed.
The powerful tsunamis swept through coastal communities from Thailand to East Africa on December 26, killing more than 155,000 people.
State Department officials are working to whittle down a list of inquiries -- calls from worried family and friends of Americans believed to have been in the affected region at the time of the disaster.
On Wednesday, the U.S. list stood at 3,100. As of Thursday morning, the number had dropped to 2,609, State Department officials said.
Officials emphasized one inquiry did not necessarily mean one American was missing. They said duplication is likely both in names of those presumed missing and in callers, registering on behalf of the same individual presumed missing.
The number of Americans who may have died is expected to be "a hundred or hundreds," an official said.
CNN's Andrea Koppel contributed to this report.
