PHUKET, Thailand (28 Dec 2004) -- Volunteers dragged scores of corpses from beaches, inland pools and once top-class hotels Tuesday with the prime minister saying the death toll from earthquake-powered tidal waves could pass 2,000. The stench of death hung in the air for a 30-kilometer (18-mile) stretch of beach north of the international resort island of Phuket to which Western and Asian tourists seeking tranquility used to flock. Some 200 bodies, by volunteer Somsak Palawat's count, lay within the Buddhist Rasneramith temple, up to 70 percent of them foreigners. Bloated, black and green bodies, many of them children and babies, were also scattered around the temple. Near the devastated Similan Beach and Spa Resort, where some 60 mostly German tourists had been staying, the corpse of a naked man hung suspended from a tree as if crucified. A police patrol boat lay beached more than a kilometer (half a mile) from the sea. This area of Phang Nga Province suffered the most casualties when tidal waves crashed into Thailand's southern beach and island resorts Sunday, killing 918 people and injuring 7,396, by the latest official tally. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters Monday night he expected the death toll to climb over 2,000 given the large number of still missing persons. A substantial but still unknown number of the dead are expected to be foreign visitors from more than 20 countries who packed the wildly popular resorts during the height of the tourist season. The tidal waves were induced by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, the strongest in 40 years, and more than 22,000 people were reported killed across Asia. Phang Nga Governor Anuwut Medhiwiboonwut said about 1,000 searchers, including army troops in bulldozers, would move into four areas of the province that have been difficult to access because of flooding and thick mud crusts. The governor said he expected about 400 bodies to be recovered Tuesday. The devastated stretch between Takua Pa and Khao Lak, 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Phuket, was the site of high-end hotels such as Le Meridien, Novotel, Khao Lak Laguna and Sofitel. | | Tidal waves destroyed tourist resorts on Phi Phi island off Phuket. Citizens from South Korea, Japan, France, Germany, South Africa, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Australia, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, Portugal, Israel, Chile, Spain and the United States were among the thousands of foreigners in stricken areas of six provinces Sunday. The Swedish tour operator Fritidsresor said 600 Swedes who were vacationing in Khao Lak were not accounted for and Thai TV Channel 9 said there could be as many as 300 people trapped in the Sofitel Hotel there. About 1.2 million foreigners are likely to cancel their trips to Thailand, resulting in lost revenue of some 30 billion baht (US$750 million; euro555 million), The Nation newspaper said, quoting the Association of Thai Travel Agents. Phuket, which alone receives about 1.5 million tourists during the peak holiday season between November and February, is expected to suffer among the greatest losses. But on Phuket's Kata beach, some foreign tourists Monday afternoon had already collected broken beach umbrellas and were back relaxing on the sand -- despite some locals spreading rumors that more waves were about to hit the island. In the evening, some small restaurants that survived were packed with foreigners. SOURCE - Star Online |
