Wellington, Oct 2 NZPA - The air force was tonight preparing to fly injured New Zealanders home from Samoa as the death toll mounted in Pacific islands devastated by Wednesday's tsunami.

Reports tonight said at least 149 had been killed in Samoa, 31 in American Samoa and nine in Tonga.

New Zealand deaths increased to three -- with another one missing, presumed dead.

Diplomatic staff said there were grave fears for two others who were known to have been staying at the Taufua Resort, Lalomanu, where huge waves created deadly havoc.

Only one of the dead New Zealanders has been named, 55-year-old Mary Ann White from Raglan.

The New Zealander missing, presumed dead, is understood to be a two-year-old Auckland boy, who was swept out to sea as he played on a beach with his parents.

Samoan survivors said they feared the death toll would rise dramatically and told of truckloads of bodies carried from the stricken coastline.

At Apia hospital, director Mizanur Rahman said a refrigerated shipping container was being used to handle the overflow from morgues.

In Auckland, Acting Prime Minister Bill English said about 20 New Zealanders had been injured, 10 of them seriously.

An air force Hercules would evacuate them tonight, with three Britons and two Germans.

In Apia, the High Commission was still striving to account for all of the hundreds of New Zealanders in Samoa.

It has confirmed 619 are alive and well, tonight it was still looking for another 239.

The Government's emergency relief effort was stepped up today as an air force shuttle operation flew desperately needed supplies and personnel into Samoa.

"The impact of this is still unfolding in Samoa and the Samoan government is working very hard to get an overall assessment of what they need, over and above emergency supplies that are being flown in now," Mr English said.

There were some hiccups. A Hercules, carrying essential gear including a water treatment plant, was delayed from flying today because of a technical fault and will now leave tomorrow.

Two anaesthetists, an orthopaedic surgeon and five theatre nurses from Waikato Hospital were expecting to leave tonight for Samoa, but were stood down, after the Ministry of Health decided they were not needed there at present.

An Australian surgeon who arrived yesterday with 70 other medics said about 200 patients were crammed into the tsunami ward of Apia's hospital.

"We're seeing a lot of lacerations, tiny cuts everywhere going in all directions thanks to the sharp rocks and coral," he said.

"They look as though they've been churned up in a massive, really dirty washing machine."

New Zealand has sent a helicopter, flown aboard an Australian Hercules, and the Government was tonight continuing to assess the need for further help.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully flew to Apia on a military aircraft to help co-ordinate the New Zealand relief effort.

Prime Minister John Key is due to return to Auckland from the United States tomorrow and almost immediately fly to Apia to give the Samoan government a personal assurance of New Zealand's ongoing commitment to relief and reconstruction.