- Title: THAILAND: AUSTRIAN FAMILY SEARCH FOR 11 YEAR OLD BOY LOST IN TSUNAMI DISASTER
- Date: 17th January 2005
- Summary: (W2) PHUKET, THAILAND (JANUARY 17, 2005)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE OF MISSING PERSONS BOARD AT DISASTER CENTRE 0.05 2. CLOSE OF PHOTOGRAPH OF 11-YEARS-OLD DAVID BAUMGARTNER ON MISSING PERSONS BOARD 0.09 3. WIDE OF MISSING PERSON'S BOARD 0.13 4. CLOSE OF PHOTOGRAPH OF DAVID BAUMGARTNER ON HIS COUSIN, MICHAELA WAGNER'S BACKPACK
- Embargoed: 1st February 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PHUKET, THAILAND
- Country: Thailand
- Reuters ID: LVADL4EAX2RU7FH8V7HVIOY6H707
- Story Text: Austrian family and friends still search for young
boy missing after tsunami in Thailand.
Michaela Wagner left her home and job in Vienna to
fly to Thailand and search for her young cousin who has
been missing since the tsunami hit Thailand.
For three weeks she has been following a string of hazy
clues related to possible sightings of 11-year-old David
Baumgartner.
On Tuesday she was at Phuket's disaster centre with
pictures of the boy. Wagner also spends time at city hall
in the hope that officials can help.
She is one of eight relatives and friends who spread
across Thailand's tsunami-affected areas searching for
David.
His parents, Johan and Regina Baumgartner, are in
hospital in Austria recovering from injuries from the
tsunami.
The couple and their son were holidaying on Phuket
island when the wave struck.
The family's quest has been prompted by a series of
alleged sightings of the boy.
Wagner said David was reported to have gone to hospital
in Tai Muang accompanied by a foreign woman after the
December 26 tsunami struck and staff said they recognised
him as one of two foreign youths brought in with slight
injuries.
The staff said he was transferred to a local authority
office, still accompanied by the unidentified foreign
woman, but no-one knows what happened next.
The group of family and friends have been to hospitals,
embassies, various villages and local authorities in their
search.
"Our family and friends are searching in Phuket, in
Khaolak, Tai Muang and Bangkok. We do it all day and night
and we hope, I cannot say much more, we hope," said Wagner.
"A lot of people said he was in this place, he was in
this place, but... it's all...it's not sure now. God
helps."
Three weeks of searching has not discouraged Wagner and
the rest of the family and friends.
Their story is one of many of the relatives of the
missing. Some have gone home and are waiting to hear results of DNA
tes
ts on bodies recovered from the debris.
Thousands of foreign tourists are still missing.
Thirteen Austrians died in the tsunami, while more than
100 are unaccounted for.
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