Thailand - 866 deaths
Latest statistics for deaths and injury by province. From top to bottom: Phuket, Krabi, Phangnga, Satun, Ranong, Trang, and totals. The middle column is deaths and the right-side column is injured (iTV).
Thai paradises lost to nature's fury
Published on Dec 27 , 2004 (The Nation, Bankgkok)
Just a day before the tidal waves they were the epitome of earthly paradise, now they are scenes of hell.
A postcard-perfect island with stunning scenery, pristine beaches, and azure waters, Koh Phi Phi is a scene of death and devastation. Sunday’s seismic tidal waves killed more than 143 people and swept away all but two buildings on the island.
Krabi’s scenic shorelines, famed for their bizarre limestone rock-formations, sustained massive damage and it may well take months to clean up all the debris. Some 68 people were killed and many more are still missing.
The popular Ao Nang Beach came in for an especially severe battering.
“Phi Phi is a total wreck,” lamented Mitchai Anansakul, head of the Nopparat Thara Marine Park. “Almost every building on the island collapsed under the 10-metre wall of water.”
Only two large hotel buildings, the Phi Phi Cabana and the Phi Phi Hotel, were left standing, but even they suffered heavy damage and will need structural inspection before they can be reopened, Mitchai added.
Rescuers, who started at 6am, were working around the clock to evacuate survivors and injured victims to the mainland. “By late afternoon some 500 to 600 survivors, including many wounded, were still stranded on the island,” Lt-Colonel Prasertsri Kulna, an inspector at Marine Police Division 5, said yesterday.
Thai paradises lost to nature's fury
Published on Dec 27 , 2004 (The Nation, Bankgkok)
Just a day before the tidal waves they were the epitome of earthly paradise, now they are scenes of hell.
A postcard-perfect island with stunning scenery, pristine beaches, and azure waters, Koh Phi Phi is a scene of death and devastation. Sunday’s seismic tidal waves killed more than 143 people and swept away all but two buildings on the island.
Krabi’s scenic shorelines, famed for their bizarre limestone rock-formations, sustained massive damage and it may well take months to clean up all the debris. Some 68 people were killed and many more are still missing.
The popular Ao Nang Beach came in for an especially severe battering.
“Phi Phi is a total wreck,” lamented Mitchai Anansakul, head of the Nopparat Thara Marine Park. “Almost every building on the island collapsed under the 10-metre wall of water.”
Only two large hotel buildings, the Phi Phi Cabana and the Phi Phi Hotel, were left standing, but even they suffered heavy damage and will need structural inspection before they can be reopened, Mitchai added.
Rescuers, who started at 6am, were working around the clock to evacuate survivors and injured victims to the mainland. “By late afternoon some 500 to 600 survivors, including many wounded, were still stranded on the island,” Lt-Colonel Prasertsri Kulna, an inspector at Marine Police Division 5, said yesterday.
posted by O.marian at 19:03
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