More than 40 English-language teachers working in Japan who may have been in areas hit by the Indian Ocean tsunamis on Dec. 26 were still unaccounted for as of Saturday.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The tally by The Japan Times was based on information provided by major English-language school operators and people teaching under the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program, through which foreigners work in local government organizations throughout the country.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The whereabouts could not be confirmed of 40 non-Japanese teachers at Nova Co., the country's largest chain of private language schools, while officials at Geos Corp. and ECC Co. each said they had two teachers still unaccounted for.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Meanwhile, an official at the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations –

, which oversees the JET program, said the organization was unable to contact one of its teachers as of Friday night. The official added, however, that this person was headed for Cambodia and was unlikely to have been affected by the temblor or the massive tsunamis that ensued.

A spokesman for Nova said that of its roughly 6,300 non-Japanese employees nationwide, the whereabouts of 40 who may have been in the tsunami-hit region were still unknown.

"But we have yet to receive information that any of our employees have died or have been injured," he added.

After a holiday break, classes at Nova began Wednesday in eastern Japan and Thursday in western Japan.