There is simply no escaping thinking and writing about the awful earthquake/tsunamis tragedy in Asia.
Reading a BBC News report just now that focuses on probable casualties among foreign tourists especially from Europe which speaks of “Hundreds of tourists from northern Europe and Scandinavia are among the missing and dead following the Indian Ocean sea surges, say Thai officials. Around half of the 4,100 listed as missing by the Thai government are reported to be foreign tourists who had been holidaying at beach resorts.”
The BBC report says:
- 26 Britons and 26 Germans are confirmed dead in Thailand
- 1,000 Swedish tourists are missing
- 930 Norwegians are believed to have been in Thailand at the time and are still unaccounted for
- France has confirmed 20 dead and there were also victims from Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, Finland and Russia
- Thai authorities said 473 foreigners from 36 nations were confirmed dead from Thailand’s southern resorts alone
BBC News | Europe | Europeans high on missing lists
Update 30 Dec 13:50 CET: BBC News report –
The missing include some 1,500 Swedes, 1,000 Germans, 600 Italians, 464 Norwegians, 219 Danes and 200 Finns.
About 2,000 bodies have been recovered, but Thailand has appealed for foreign forensic experts to help identify them. The victims were at resorts along Thailand’s south-western coast and on outlying islands, with Phuket and Khao Lak especially hard hit by the devastating waves.
The Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, says he believes around 80% of the missing are dead.