3,500 Swedish tourists missing in Thailand

The number of Swedish tourists missing in Thailand was increased to 3,500 today

Sweden now seems likely to be the Western country hardest hit by the tsunamis that wrecked the southern Asian coastlines the day after Christmas and killed more than 100,000 people.

Weary Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds, who returned to Stockholm from from Phuket today, also increased the confirmed death toll for Sweden to 59, including the first confirmed Swedish death in Sri Lanka.

Prime Minister Goeran Persson the final Swedish death toll will be in the hundreds, and could exceed 1,000.

Freivalds said the number of missing was still highly uncertain, as many Swedes may have left Thailand on their own without informing authorities.