COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - The infant dubbed "Baby 81" nurses from a bottle of milk and kicks playfully at a pink blanket as nine desperate, heartbroken women quarrel over him - all claiming he was torn from them by the tsunami.

One man standing outside the nursery at Kalmunai Base Hospital threatened to kill himself and his wife if they are not given the baby. A woman at the hospital said she would kill the doctors unless she gets him.

The battle over the wide-eyed boy, who appears to be about three or four months old, symbolizes the enormous loss in the Dec. 26 disaster.

Children accounted for a staggering 40 percent - or 12,000 - of Sri Lanka's death toll of nearly 31,000. In all, nearly 160,000 people have died across southern Asia.

The loss is especially keenly felt in Ampara district, where the fight over "Baby 81" is taking place. There were 10,436 people killed in Ampara, the highest in Sri Lanka.

The infant, bruised and covered in mud but otherwise healthy, was brought to the hospital hours after the tsunami struck Kalmunai, a remote town in eastern Sri Lanka that is home to Muslims and Tamils. It was partly cut off after a major bridge was swept away by the deadly waves.

He was given the nickname because his real name is not known and he was the 81st admission that terrible day, officials said Friday. No relatives were with him.

"Parents who have lost their children come every day to the hospital to check," Dr. K.R. Saseenthirian said Friday in a telephone interview. "Some stay and claim that the baby is theirs."

The nine women who claim "Baby 81" show up at the hospital and quarrel with each other, a hospital official said.

"Now it will have to be a court decision. If the court asks us to conduct DNA tests, we will do that," Saseenthirian said.