Nordic victims of quake

AT least 23 people from the Nordic countries were killed and 600 more are missing following the deadly earthquake-driven tidal waves that swept southern Asia on Monday.

The region, with its sun and white-sand beaches, is a magnet for northern Europeans, who travel there in their droves seeking to escape Scandinavia’s frigid winters.

A spokeswoman for the Swedish tour operator Fritidsresor said some 600 Swedes on holiday in Khao Lak just north of Phuket have not been accounted for.

More than 20,000 Swedes are believed to be in the region.

Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson said: “the number of deaths are already unbelievably high. They will continue to increase.”