International rescue teams race against time in survivor search

International teams and thousands of Thais were mounting the country’s largest ever rescue and relief operation today, with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra fearing the death toll will soar beyond 7,000.

“There are many people listed as missing and we think that 80% of them are feared dead. Twenty percent may have lost contact,” he said.

Officials say more than 6,000 Thais and foreigners as missing, while 1,975 are confirmed to have perished in Sunday’s tsunami disaster.

As Thaksin spoke, rescue and forensic teams from Australia, Japan, Germany, Israel and other countries fanned out across still corpse-strewn areas of southern Thailand, racing against time to find survivors and identify rapidly decomposing corpses.

“We have to have hope that we’ll find somebody,” said Ulf Langemeier, chief of 15 German veterans of earthquake disasters who along with three sniffer dogs combed a wrecked resort under huge flood lamps early today.

Langemeier sounded an ominous note: there’s always a chance of finding survivors trapped under rubble when earthquakes strike on land, but “when waves enter a building you have no chance”.

The rescue and identification teams are focusing their efforts on a 19-mile stretch of beach in Phang Nga province, north of the internationally popular resort of Phuket Island.

More than half of Thailand’s confirmed deaths occurred in Phang Nga province, and police there say as many as 3,000 bodies may yet be found among the five-star hotels as well as poor fishing villages.

“Villagers say that the search teams want to help the foreigners first and they don’t care about them,” said the area’s MP Jurit Laksanawisit.

Describing the rescue effort as slow and chaotic, he said some victims might have been saved as bodies discovered yesterday had just died.

Prime Minister Thaksin admitted problems of co-ordination existed because of the multiple areas that were hit.

“Everybody going to these areas has good intentions as they go with their heart and a sense of dedication. These are not good places to stay, no comfort, no toilets, only the smell of corpses. If there are any misunderstandings, we can discuss them,” he said.

As rescue workers toiled at Khao Lak, hundreds of people darted from the beach in panic after a siren sounded warning of another possible tsunami. But only small waves followed the alarm.

The warning, which was also issued in India, following information that several aftershocks in the region had pushed up the water level.

An estimated 5.7 magnitude underwater earthquake was recorded by the Hong Kong observatory at 5.18am (9.18pm Irish time yesterday), north-west of Sumatra close to the epicentre of last Sunday’s quake. Tremors were also felt in Thailand and Burma.

The missing in Thailand include 1,500 Swedes, 200 Finns, 200 Danes and hundreds of Norwegians, according to reports from Scandinavian capitals.

Trucks loaded with refrigeration units were seen dispersing over the disaster area, as Thai volunteers and rescue teams rushed in from around the country worked through the night.

Even prisoners were mobilised to clear away debris and build coffins for the foreigners. Most of the Buddhist Thais killed were being cremated at local monasteries.