THAILAND: RESCUE OPERATIONS CONTINUE IN PHUKET WHERE 400 PEOPLE ARE REPORTED DEAD AND NEARLY 5,000 INJURED

Record ID: 590769

  • Title: THAILAND: RESCUE OPERATIONS CONTINUE IN PHUKET WHERE 400 PEOPLE ARE REPORTED DEAD AND NEARLY 5,000 INJURED
  • Date: 28th December 2004
  • Summary: (U7) PHUKET, THAILAND (DECEMBER 27, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. SLV TOURISTS AT AIRPORT, WAITING IN LINE TO BUY PLANE TICKETS; SLV THAI AIRLINE RELIEF COUNTER (4 SHOTS) 0.22 2. MV THAI AIRWAYS STAFF SORTING FOOD; SLV TOURISTS AT CHECK-IN COUNTER 0.48 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NORA LAVELLE, ENGLISH TOURIST, SAYING: "My friend was trying to protect me and then all I can remember is just frightening. And as it kind of just lifted me off my feet and then it started subsiding, otherwise I wouldn't be here to tell you the story, I'm sure. Very frightening." 1.07 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JACK FEATHERSTONE, ENGLISH TOURIST, SAYING: "It was like a battlefield. There was tables, there was all sorts all over the place. We got behind a tree and we eventually ended up to here in water. (POINTING TO HIS CHEST) And when it just subsided a bit, we got out as quickly as we possibly could." 1.23 5. SLV TOURISTS AT PHUKET INFORMATION COUNTER/ MAKING PHONE CALLS; MV TOURISTS WATCHING TELEVISION 1.46 6. SLV TOURISTS GATHERED AT CITY HALL 1.57 7. MV THAI PRIME MINISTER THAKSIN SHINAWATRA ARRIVING AT CITY HALL 2.03 8. (SOUNDBITE) (Thai) THAKSIN SHINAWATRA SAYING: "We don't have enough (doctors, nurses and medicine). We have arranged more C130 flights, more rescue workers, including private and foundation rescuers, and also sniffer dogs. Tomorrow morning they will all come." 2.16 9. SLV MORE PEOPLE GATHERED AT CITY HALL WHERE SURVIVORS ARE STAYING FOR NIGHT 2.26 10. SLV RESCUE BOATS CARRYING SURVIVORS FROM ISLAND OF KRAEI; SLV SURVIVORS AND INJURED OFFLOADED FROM RESCUE BOATS 3.40 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 12th January 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: PHUKET, THAILAND
  • Country: Thailand
  • Reuters ID: LVA9O96J7RKEG2P9IYC48OBNB2UE
  • Story Text: Rescue operations continue in Phuket, where 400 are
    reported dead and nearly 5,000 injured, while tourists
    queue for homebound tickets at the airports.

    The death toll from a deadly tsunami that devastated
    Thailand's southern tourist playground surged close to 400
    as rescue workers worked overnight, retrieving bodies and
    searching for injured.

    Government officials said early on Monday (December 27, 2004)
    at least 392 bodies were found in stricken areas in six
    western Thai provinces bordering the Andaman Sea but some
    expected the final toll to approach 1,000.

    The BBC quoted the British ambassador to Thailand,
    David Fall, as saying one Briton had died in Thailand. The
    Foreign Office declined to comment.

    The Swedish Foreign Ministry said two Swedes were
    confirmed dead.

    Belgian foreign ministry spokesman Francois Dumont said
    two Belgians were killed in Phuket and another 17 were
    reported to be missing. Belgian media said the two dead
    were a 60-year-old woman and a baby.

    Two Danes were killed, five are missing and one is
    injured, Denmark's Foreign Ministry said. It predicted that
    toll would rise, and Danish media said about 6,000 Danes
    were in Phuket.

    Witnesses spoke of a wave three stories high which tossed cars
    arou
    nd and burst into luxury hotels on the
    holiday island of Phuket, popular with Western and Asian
    tourists and currently at the height of the Christmas
    holiday season.

    The tsunami, triggered by an earthquake off Indonesia
    on Sunday (December 26) that was measured at 8.9 magnitude
    by the U.S. Geological Survey, destroyed thousands of
    houses and small hotels on the mainland and injured more
    than 5,000 people.

    "It was like a battlefield. There was tables, there was
    all sorts all over the place. We got behind a tree and we
    eventually ended up to here in water. (pointing to his
    chest). And when it subsided a bit, we got out as quickly
    as we possibly could," said British tourist Jack
    Featherstone.

    Disaster officials said at least 130 people died in
    Phuket, including several dozen foreigners. Nearly 700
    people were injured and 214 missing.

    Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, speaking at
    Phuket City Hall said they were dealing with shortages in
    the rescue operations, but help was on its way.

    "We don't have enough (doctors, nurses and medicine).

    We have arranged more C130 flights, more rescue workers,
    including private and foundation rescuers, and also sniffer
    dogs. Tomorrow morning they will all come," he said.

    Another 45 people died in Krabi province, also a
    premier holiday destination.

    Helicopters and ships were sent to assess the damage in
    a region of exotically shaped limestone islands scattered
    in the turquoise waters of the Andaman Sea and popular with
    snorkellers and divers among Thailand's annual 12 million
    tourists.

    Government officials said more than 4,000 foreign and
    Thai tourists were stranded on Ko Phi Phi, the tiny island
    off Krabi made famous by the 2000 film "The Beach" starring
    Leonardo DiCaprio.



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