JAKARTA, July 18 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) will donate US$10,000 (RM37,000) for victims of the tsunami that hit Java island Monday.

Malaysian Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui made the announcement in Medan, Sumatra, Tuesday.

Chin and a MPOB delegation are visiting Medan for talks with Indonesian officials on cooperation on oil palm, cocoa and pepper.

He told the Indonesian news agency Antara that the donation would be handed to the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs which would then forward it to the Indonesian government.

Meanwhile, the death toll in the tsunami triggered by three earthquakes off Pangandaran beach in Ciamis, South Java has risen to 379.

In Ciamis, 184 people were confirmed dead, 97 in Tasikmalaya and 90 in Cilacap.

The rest of the dead were in Garut, Kebumen and Gunung Kidul, according to news website detik.com which quoted various sources including the Social Ministry and disaster relief centres in the district up to 5pm Tuesday.

The death toll is expected to increase as hundreds of people are still unaccounted for.

Seven foreign nationals were found dead. Three were Arabs and the others were a Japanese, Dutch, Swede and Pakistani.

Another source said two Swedes died while two others were missing.

Three Indonesian ministers have joined the search, rescue and relief effort in Pangandaran. They are People Welfare Coordinating Minister Aburizal Bakrie, Social Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah and Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari.

Local television stations and news websites carried shocking footage and pictures of the aftermath of the tsunami, including bodies partially buried under black mud and people crying beside their dead family members.

Furniture was strewn on the roads amid the rubble of collapsed buildings.

The Surabaya-based Meteorology and Geophysic Agency said 63 aftershocks were recorded since the major quake that occurred at 4.20pm Monday up to Tuesday morning.

"The aftershocks measured between three and five on the Richter scale," Antara news agency quoted a spokesman of the agency as saying.

The United States Geological Survey said yesterday's quake was measured at 7.2 magnitude.

-- BERNAMA