Foreign Affairs officials confirmed Thursday that the number of Canadians killed and missing due to the tsunami in southeast Asia has risen. Officials now say four Canadians have been killed.

Three Canadians have been confirmed dead in Thailand. That's one more than was reported on Wednesday. And one Canadian was confirmed killed in Sri Lanka following Sunday's magnitude-9.0 quake and the deadly tsunamis it sent sweeping across the region.

An estimated 115,000 people have been confirmed dead so far.

The department reported that an additional 18 Canadians are missing in Malaysia, bringing the total number of citizens either missing or unaccounted for to 87. Following is a breakdown of the missing Canadians by country:

• 38 missing in Thailand
• 15 missing in Sri Lanka
• 18 missing in Malaysia
• 11 missing in the Maldives
• 5 missing in Indonesia

Earlier reports that 13 Canadians were killed in Thailand have now proved to be incorrect. But Thai officials warn the death count for foreign tourists could rise as bodies are identified.

Government sources have also told CTV News that "the number of dead and missing Canadians in Thailand will go up dramatically in the coming weeks," as the whereabouts of the hundreds of holidayers believed to be there comes to light.

At a press conference in Ottawa Thursday afternoon, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew said the chaos and the fact information is being compiled by different agencies makes it hard to pin the numbers down.

Nevertheless, the identities of two of the Canadians have been made public. Mathieu Lafond, 28, of Repentigny near Montreal and Gilles Bouchard, a teacher from Gatineau, Quebec, died in Thailand.

One government official says Foreign Affairs will now start to contact the families of those missing, to ask them to collect forensic evidence.

Family members will be urged to look for dental records, fingerprints and even hair. The items will then be sent to Thailand and perhaps other countries, to help positively identify victims using DNA.

Thai officials have said visual identification is no longer possible since many bodies have started to decay and are no longer recognizable.

Canada may also send forensic experts in order to help identify the victims.

"We need more forensic experts to help identify the nationality of the dead,'' Stanchart Devahastin, Thailand's ambassador to Canada, told an Ottawa news conference Thursday.

"We also need body bags -- a larger size than we have ever needed before.''

Foreign Affairs' emergency call centre says it's fielding up to 2,000 telephone calls related to the tsunami each day. People are inquiring about the disaster and missing relatives.

As relief workers continue pulling back the rubble, a reconnaissance team for the Canadian Forces Disaster Assistance Relief Team (DART) left Canada Thursday to find out where the need for aid is greatest.

Canada's Defence Department also pledged to send a second plane loaded with relief supplies. It's expected to leave the region sometime this week.