Again, this is known :
- there are tens of thousands of european tourists in the Maldives now
- there is a mass media blackout about this fact and about their fate
Just listened to BBC World Service interview a government official of Maldives... you know... that blacked-out country... currently 30 dead and 30 missing.
Quite an effective blackout.
Just listened to BBC World Service interview a government official of Maldives... you know... that blacked-out country... currently 30 dead and 30 missing.
Quite an effective blackout.
There's been lots of talk about all the tourists in the whole region. Are you wanting a specific mention of German tourists only in the Maldives? What about the other tourists there (also in huge numbers)? And what about the tourists from all over in other countries? I don't think they are spending their time saying there are ___ of ___ tourists in ___ country becuase if they did a laundry list of each number of tourists from each country represented in each country impacted they'd never get the other details out.
Here's one article that does mention some specific numbers, including from Germany.
I don't think anyone is trying to say there isn't going to be huge loss of life...I also don't think they're trying to portray one type of loss of life as more significant than another and they're going for the whole picture...and it will STILL be days before many places are accessible or able to get communication out.
I'm sure you'll get more numbers as soon as they have them.
http://www.turkishpress.com/world/news.asp?id=041226201253.2ibacevd.xml
Fears for thousands of foreign tourists in Asian tidal wave zone
12-26-2004, 20h12
PARIS (AFP) - Thousands of Europeans were holidaying in the tourist draws of southern Asia when the huge tidal waves slammed popular beaches and hotels, and early reports indicated some were dead and scores were missing in a disaster that has so far killed more than 10,000 people.
Governments and agencies set up crisis cells and hotlines and offered help to the countries swept by the giant tsunamis sparked by a huge earthquake off Indonesia, as they prepared to send planes to bring their citizens home.
Travel agencies and government officials in various European capitals said up to 10,000 British tourists may have been affected, more than 5,000 Italians, up to 5,000 French, at least 4,000 Germans, more than 2,500 Swiss, some 2,000 Poles, over 1,000 Belgians and a similar number of Greeks.