Italians among thousands killed and missing

Asian earthquake and deadly tsunami claim lives of tourists and residents

An earthquake which erupted off the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island, measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale, triggered tsunami - destructive wave train created by undersea disturbances - which hit the shores of Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Maldives on Sunday, December 26 in the early morning.
The tsunami washed away fishing villages and resorts throughout the region. Thousands of people are missing, many more homeless as the death toll continues to rise.
Among the worst ever of natural disasters, some islands of Maldives, a popular holiday destination made up of over 1,200 islands, may be washed away forever.
The quake that unleashed killer waves measuring six to 10 metres high from the Indian Ocean was the most powerful experienced in 40 years.
At press time, 14 Italians have been positively declared dead at present. The fourteenth was a man, identified by his relatives by photos published on the website of the hospital of Karbi. Italy's Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini warned, "the number of people missing must be considered a prudent estimate; 8,000 Italians were in the disaster area, and with the passing of time trepidation for their fate grows. I'm worried by the enormous number of people calling in to inquire about missing relatives, 96 hours after the fact."
Seventy-six Italians have been located in Karbi (Thailand), but "everything must be carefully verified," clarified Fini. Close to 2,800 Italians have already been repatriated.
The following are the names of the eight Italian victims already identified: in Thailand, Piermario Della Valle, from Varese; Luigi Tribbioli; Mario De Angeli, from Milan; 2-year-old Alex Ceotto, son of an Italian father and Thai mother who have both been wounded; Lisa D'Avola, Italian-Brazilian, and her teenage son Gianluca. In Sri Lanka, Raffaella Piva, from Udine, and a man identified only by first name, Ermanno.
All Italian citizens wounded by the tsunami in Thailand have been accounted for: many have already been transferred to an operations centre established by Italian Civil Defence in Pukhet, and they will be repatriated as soon as possible.
"We've already brought here in Pukhet many wounded, our medical teams have stabilized them, and tomorrow they will be sent home. There's about 15 of them," explained Elvezio Galanti, who heads Italy's CD mission to Thailand.
"More Italian wounded are still hospitalized, and we're monitoring them," he added. "We've located all the Italian wounded, and we'll bring them here for repatriation as soon as possible."
No news, on the other hand, about the missing. "An international committee is working on their identification," concluded Galanti. Two or three of the wounded brought to the CD operations centre in Pukhet are in severe conditions, and one in particular is in critical conditions. The rest have wounds and fractures of various kinds, but their condition raises no particular concern.
Ten more Italians have been located in the hospital of Krabi and transferred to Pukhet by helicopter. They will also be repatriated with one of the emergency flights.

Publication Date: 2005-01-02
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=4798