Two South Africans have been confirmed killed in Phuket island off Thailand, following an earthquake and subsequent tsunamis that hit Southeast Asia on Sunday, the department of foreign affairs said on Monday.
“Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has been advised officially of the deaths of two South Africans in Phuket,” departmental spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said.
SABC news named the two dead South Africans as Johannesburgers Daphney Coetzee and Paul Sender, who died when walls of water hit them while they were holidaying in Phuket.
Two South Africans were still missing in Chennai, India. Two others who were missing in Sri Lanka have been located, he said. At least 300 South Africans are believed to be stranded in Thailand.
SA rescue team to fly out
A rescue team will fly to Phuket on Tuesday morning to bring back 198 South Africans, said Netcare 911 spokesperson Mande Toubkin.
A 747 Boeing — on loan from Nationwide airlines — would leave Johannesburg International Airport at 11am on Tuesday.
“We are sending five doctors, five nurses and two paramedics,” she said.
Mamoepa added that two foreign affairs consular service officers and two home affairs officials would also be on the plane.
They would provide welfare and temporary travel documents for those South Africans trapped on the island.
Toubkin said they would bring back those with minor injuries and women and children.
“We will have to leave some behind. We believe there are some 300 South Africans stranded but we only have 198 seats.”
The rescue team is expected to spend four or five hours in Phuket rounding up the stranded, before making the eight hour journey back to Johannesburg.
The rescue mission is a joint effort between Netcare 911, Foreign Affairs and Discovery Health.
South Africa’s Ambassador to Thailand, Buli Ndzimande Pheto travelled to Phuket earlier on Monday to co-ordinate the evacuation of South Africans on the island.
She has already met with those affected.
By late Monday 23 500 people in the eight affected countries were reported to have perished in the largest earthquake in forty years in the region.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions said on Monday it was horrified at the number of people who had lost their lives in the disaster.
“We send our condolences to all those who have lost loved ones. We urge all governments concerned and the United Nations to do everything possible to help those who are injured or homeless,” Cosatu said.
“We further call upon the international community urgently to investigate ways of providing advanced warning of such catastrophes in order to reduce the number of casualties.”
Experts warn another quake may strike
As a huge aid mission swung into action, rescue workers were still assessing the aftermath of the quake. Experts warned that another quake might strike at any time.
Officials in Sri Lanka announced that the death toll in that country, which was the worst hit, had increased by 5 000 to 12 000, including 200 foreigners.
There have been fatalities in eight countries, including as far away as Somalia on Africa’s eastern coast. But the worst hit areas are Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India, with each country reporting thousands dead.
The disaster was caused by tectonic plates shifting six miles under the sea off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Sunday, triggering a huge tsunami tidal wave which crashed on to beaches, leaving devastation behind it.
The 20-foot-high waves swept away ferries and fishermen, cars and cottages, sunbathers and holiday divers. Dramatic footage filmed by a tourist on a balcony showed waves crashing into a hotel, flooding over a swimming pool and the lower floors.
Millions of people have been left homeless and many thousands are missing following the quake, which registered 9 on the Richter scale. The US Geological Survey said were at least six powerful aftershocks.
Signs of carnage in the disaster area were everywhere today. Dozens of bodies still clad in swimming trunks lined beaches in Thailand.
Villagers in Indonesia picked through destroyed homes amid the smell of rotting corpses, lacking any dry ground to bury the dead. Helicopters in India rushed medicine to stricken areas, while warships in Thailand steamed to island resorts to rescue survivors.
About 200 people were evacuated from devastated Phi Phi island, one of Thailand’s most popular destinations for Westerners.
Aid pledged
A huge international emergency aid effort was underway, with the EU having pledged an initial £2,1-million. Pope John Paul II led appeals for aid for victims and the US president, George Bush, expressed his condolences over the “terrible loss of life and suffering”.
As well as the EU, the US, Japan, China and Russia were among the countries sending aid and teams of experts to the region.
The UK’s international development secretary, Hilary Benn, said the government had already given £400 000 through the EU to the first Red Cross appeal to help survivors, and was providing about £50 000 to the World Health Organisation to prevent outbreaks of disease.
Row over warning signs
Meanwhile, a row was ongoing after scientists said the death toll would have been reduced if the Indian Ocean had a network warning system for earthquakes similar to the one along Pacific Rim nations in North America, Asia and South America.
Thailand’s prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, refused to answer reporters’ questions about tsunami alerts. ‒ Sapa, Sapa-AFP, Guardian Unlimited Â