United Nations Radio

Young children make up a big percentage of the dead in the Asian tsunami disaster.

According to the head of the UN children's agency (UNICEF) Carol Bellamy, children and people under the age of 18 represent more than 35 per cent of the population in many of the countries worst hit by the tsunamis.

"Also kids are the least able to run, they can run but they are least able to withstand the flooding or holding on so that's one of the reasons that children have been particularly affected."

Aid groups in Asia estimate that up to one-third of the dead from the disaster could be children.