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04/01/2005
Foreign office fears rise in Britons killed in tsunami
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw confirmed that the number of Britons killed in the Asian tsunami was "highly likely" to rise as he said it was feared that another 159 people may have died.
The Foreign office later confirmed that another person was known to have died in the disaster, bringing the death toll as of noon to 41.
Speaking at a press conference this morning, Mr Straw confirmed the British death toll figures, but he said that the Foreign Office had "always made clear that the final number was bound to be significantly higher than that."
The Foreign Secretary said: "Because of the scale and nature of the disaster and the fact that many of the bodies of the dead may, sadly, never be found, firm estimates of casualty figures remain difficult."
Mr Straw said that in addition to the British nationals confirmed dead, the Metropolitan Police Service had categorised another 159 British nationals as "highly likely to have been involved as victims of the disaster".
He added that although it was still possible that not all of those missing had perished in the Boxing Day disaster, "the presumption has to be that a significant proportion of them will have been killed."
Earlier today it was confirmed that of the British nationals killed, 29 were in Thailand, eight in Sri Lanka and three in the Maldives.
The overall death toll in the disaster has now climbed to around 150,000. Indonesia is the worst affected country, with the United Nations now warning that its death toll will almost certainly top 100,000. Just over 30,000 people have now been confirmed dead in Sri Lanka, 15,160 in India and 5,046 in Thailand, but all these totals are also expected to rise.
Thousands of people are still missing across the region, including 2,459 foreigners in Thailand. Sweden has the most missing tourists, with 2,915 Swedish nationals still unaccounted for, alongside 52 confirmed deaths.
The latest estimates indicate that around five million are homeless and almost two million people urgently need food aid.
(KMcA/SP)
The Foreign office later confirmed that another person was known to have died in the disaster, bringing the death toll as of noon to 41.
Speaking at a press conference this morning, Mr Straw confirmed the British death toll figures, but he said that the Foreign Office had "always made clear that the final number was bound to be significantly higher than that."
The Foreign Secretary said: "Because of the scale and nature of the disaster and the fact that many of the bodies of the dead may, sadly, never be found, firm estimates of casualty figures remain difficult."
Mr Straw said that in addition to the British nationals confirmed dead, the Metropolitan Police Service had categorised another 159 British nationals as "highly likely to have been involved as victims of the disaster".
He added that although it was still possible that not all of those missing had perished in the Boxing Day disaster, "the presumption has to be that a significant proportion of them will have been killed."
Earlier today it was confirmed that of the British nationals killed, 29 were in Thailand, eight in Sri Lanka and three in the Maldives.
The overall death toll in the disaster has now climbed to around 150,000. Indonesia is the worst affected country, with the United Nations now warning that its death toll will almost certainly top 100,000. Just over 30,000 people have now been confirmed dead in Sri Lanka, 15,160 in India and 5,046 in Thailand, but all these totals are also expected to rise.
Thousands of people are still missing across the region, including 2,459 foreigners in Thailand. Sweden has the most missing tourists, with 2,915 Swedish nationals still unaccounted for, alongside 52 confirmed deaths.
The latest estimates indicate that around five million are homeless and almost two million people urgently need food aid.
(KMcA/SP)
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