Posted on 12/29/2004 12:20:19 PM PST by Pikamax
Swedish and German deaths soaring By Connie Levett, Herald Correspondent in Phuket December 30, 2004
Page Tools Email to a friend Printer format More than 1000 Swedes and Germans are missing, feared dead, as the death toll in Thailand continues to mount.
One Swedish tour company, Fritidsresor, has 600 people it cannot account for. Another, MyTravel, has 297 Swedes missing, according to Swedish newspaper reports.
Hundreds of German tourists are also missing.
The devastated Khao Lak area, 90 minutes north of Phuket, had a strong representation of both nationalities.
Many of the resorts were old-style bungalows on the beach that were crushed by the force of the tsunami.
There were no bungalows left standing when the Herald visited the beach on Tuesday.
"We have 10 confirmed dead," said Peter Finger, the press spokesman for the German embassy. "But frankly we believe it will go much higher. We have a hot spot in Khao Lak where we have a lot of Germans missing. It could be anything from 80 to 600. I fear we will have very bad news in the next few days."
There were 4500 Germans holidaying in the affected region when the tsunami struck. There were 10,000 to 15,000 Swedes.
The growing concern about the number of missing came as rumours circulated that Thais had started cremating bodies in the temple morgues close to Khao Lak.
"I do hope not," Mr Finger said. "People have to be identified. If this is happening, it would be a disaster on top of a disaster."
A spokesman for the British embassy said he had also heard the cremation rumours.
"We have been encouraging the Thais not to cremate Western bodies," he said.
The Governor of Phuket, Udomsak Asvarangkool, on Tuesday denied that cremations have taken place.
Forensic teams from Germany arrived yesterday and Swedish teams are due to arrive today.
"I don't think they [the Swedish Government] understood how big it was. At first they said the Government can't do anything. It's the travel agencies' job," said Eva Nordin, who is running a Swedish volunteer support centre at the Pearl Hotel in Phuket town.
The lobby of the hotel is filled with blank Nordic faces, many of whom appear to be still in shock.
More than 100 Swedes are being billeted close to the airport in a newly built villa development owned by a Swedish Thai couple.
In one room there was a man who had lost his wife, her sister and his parents-in-law. Beside him at the table were a couple who had lost both their teenage daughters.
There were also 513 New Zealanders in the region when the wave hit on Sunday and 122 are listed as still missing.
"These are people that we know were in the region affected by the tsunami and we cannot account for," said Sarah Craig, New Zealand's deputy ambassador to Thailand. "Thailand and Malaysia are where the bulk of our tourists come in this region," she said.
Ms Craig stressed that the figures were changing continually and there was still a lot of uncertainty about the final numbers.
The British death toll stood at 11 yesterday but there were thousands of tourists in the area and hundreds remain unaccounted for.
"What worries us is that complete families may have been killed and then there is no one to call," a British embassy spokesman said.
Seven American citizens are already confirmed dead and hundreds are still listed as missing, according to information from the US embassy.
Up to eight Filipinos are believed to have died at resort beaches, Agence France-Presse stated. Many other nations have also lost citizens.
"One Swedish tour company, Fritidsresor, has 600 people it cannot account for."
Wow!
That's terrible.
A lot of these people were probably washed back out to sea when the water went back out. May never find their remains.
I think that by now, we can expect that 95% of the 'missing' are dead.
What a horror! Prayers for all the victims of this tragedy. :-(
I was thinking that we may be seeing body parts wash ashore for weeks, as currents shift. And many will never be found.
So tragic.
and I fear that 95% figure may be optimistic. Horrendous.
agreed
Then let him send 10,000 refrigerated trucks there for morgue use.
I saw a FoxNews report on the devastation. In the background was the water's edge. It had returned to its original peaceful, tiny waves lapping on the shoreline.
At that point, I knew why so many people were caught unawares, and the reason for the popularity of these islands for tourist destinations. Who would ever think that a tragedy of this proportion would occur.
I read on a FR thread that places on Sri Lanka that had sand dunes were safe from the waves.
I agree. When those huge waves hit and rebounded back out, pulling all the people and things along beach areas back with it. Ocean currents may have washed all those bodies back out to sea, where sea critters have probably taken some of them. But, I believe you are correct that bodies will be washing ashore for weeks.
Ping to the Swedish Ping List.
"I do hope not," Mr Finger said. "People have to be identified.
Then let him send 10,000 refrigerated trucks there for morgue use.
Your numbers are probably right, although there are probably quite a number of injured people who are either unconscious or who have amnesia. Eventually though, those family members who insist that their loved one is missing will accept that he or she probably didn't survive. Remember the days after 9-11 and all the Missing posters? I think it's probably an initial step in the grief process to believe that your loved one is missing and will be found.
Ping.
I too pray for these souls, whatever good my prayers do.
I also wonder if this will cause a rise in the shark population off these coasts.
Might damage their tourism for years to come.
Exactly the kind of accomodations I would chose. This is all so heartbreaking.
While I can certainly sympathise with those who have lost their loved ones (I would certainly want them to do everything they could to returns the remains of my relatives), I don't think the Thais have much choice. They can't let the thousands of bodies continue to rot out in the open.
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