More than 2 000 South Africans were travelling in the region of South East Asia hit by tsunamis, the South African department of foreign affairs said on Tuesday.
Foreign affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said they had established that about 2 034 South Africa were in the region, of which four had been listed dead in Phuket, Thailand.
Mamoepa said 10 members of a South African family were still reported missing in Phuket, while two South Africans were missing in India.
Mamoepa said the department would not release the names of any of the deceased. ”This is a matter for the families. It is up to them if they want to make public the names.”
Foreign Affairs gave a breakdown of South Africans by region:
Thailand: 1646;
Sri Lanka: 37;
India: 121;
Indonesia: 42;
Maldives: 100;
Malaysia: 47;
Kenya: 8;
Singapore: 11 (who may have gone to Thailand form Singapore);
Burma: 5;
Another five South Africans were apparently travelling somewhere in the region prior to the disaster.
Meanwhile Radio 702 said Steven Sender slammed media reports claiming his brother Paul had been killed on Phi Phi Island.
Sender told the radio station his brother’s body had not been found.
A website, phuketpc.com, listed South Africans Cornell Hatting (33) and Paul Levine (23) as patients at the Phuket International Hospital.
Another website, www.phuket.com, listed South African Barbara Fobian as a patient at the Bangkok Phuket Hospital.
Neither of the websites listed any South Africans as dead.
Foreign affairs spokesperson Nomfanelo Kota said a team of doctors and paramedics were en route to Phuket in Thailand from Johannesburg International Airport Tuesday to rescue South Africans stranded there.
The team was expected to return some time on Wednesday afternoon. – Sapa