Desperate tourists search for missing children

Dozens of parents desperate to find missing children after massive tidal waves battered southern Thailand turned up at a local hospital hoping that an unidentified two-year-old boy was theirs.

But all left disappointed.

Authorities were still unsure even of the blond-haired boy’s nationality. Some said maybe he was Swedish, but his incomprehensible babble was little help in discovering his identity.

The boy – with red marks streaking his face – was found sitting on a road not far from the town of Khao Lak in Phang Nga province, shortly after surging waves swept away hundreds of tourists and trapped people inside flooded buildings.

Some tourists saw the toddler sitting alone and took him to a nearby hospital, said Vilad Mumbansao at Phuket International Hospital.

“He looked bleak when he arrived at the hospital on Sunday night with some surface wounds on his face and body,” he said.

The child was lying in a hospital bed, wearing a red-and yellow-checked shirt, with his left hand hooked up to a saline drip. He was looking a little healthier after doctors gave him oxygen for a day, said Vilad.

Hospital staff have tried to determine the boy’s nationality.

“He could be Swedish because he was enthusiastic when a man spoke Swedish to him,” said Vilad.

Nurse Jintana Choochai said dozens of foreigners who survived the tidal wave have come to the hospital to see if the baby is theirs, but his parents haven’t turned up.

Hospital officials said they were looking for Norbert and Edeltraud Michl, parents of a 10-year-old German girl, Sophia Michl, who they were caring for. She has cuts and bruises on her face.

It’s feared that many children may have become orphans because of the disaster.

“I saw many children perish. I saw parents trying to hold on to them but it was impossible,” said Karl Kalteka, of Munich, Germany, who was on the beach in Khao Lak at the Sofitel hotel when the waves hit. He lost his girlfriend in the disaster.

“It was hell,” Kalteka said while on a stretcher at Phuket airport with multiple wounds.

Rose Ehret, a Singaporean helping French victims, said she was caring for children who had lost their parents. She also said there were parents who lost children, and parents or children who were missing.

The hospital staff has cared for more than 600 injured. About 50 of the 70 patients currently admitted are foreigners.

They’re hoping they can help the boy, who seemed sad on Monday.

“The baby looked today as if he began thinking of his parents,” Vilad said.