Soldiers in search for bodies of 700 foreigners

SOLDIERS used bulldozers yesterday to push into a strip of Thai luxury resorts destroyed by tidal waves and picked the bodies of European tourists from ruined gardens and suites as the death toll climbed to 2,000.

Officials said at least 700 foreigners had died.

The stench of death hung over a 19-mile stretch of coast in the southern Phang Nga province, which had been packed with foreign tourists from more than 20 countries staying at international hotels such as the Le Meridien, Novotel and Sofitel.