Thousands of Americans still missing in Asia
The U.S. State Department continues effort to locate thousands of Americans who are still missing after the tsunamis in the Indian Ocean.
Spokesman Richard Boucher confirmed Thursday 14 Americans killed in the disaster with thousands still missing. “We’re working, at any given moment 2,000 to 3,000 names,…” Boucher said.
Boucher said 400 calls an hour from concerned relatives were being received, adding to the list of missing, though some 600 Americans who were listed as missing have been found, reported CNN and USA Today.
In Sri Lanka, Americans have been showing up at U.S. consular offices wearing bathing suits, with no money and no clothes, said Boucher.
US Embassies in the affected countries are working to track down the missing or identify them through visits to hospitals and morgues to identify Americans.
There are more Americans in Thailand than in any other affected country.
The Thai government has assured U.S. officials, amid concern about mass graves, that the remains of non-Thai citizens will not be buried without proper identification.
Photographs, fingerprints and DNA samples are being taken and the location of foreigners’ remains is being monitored by the government, Boucher said.
“Our consular affairs task force has been up and running 24 hours a day,” he said.
“They’re responding to calls, they’re responding to faxes. … The task force itself is placing calls to families to get more information or, in many cases, to pass on information that we can find.”
Boucher offered advice for Americans who may be traveling in southern Asia, even if they are far away from sites where the tsunamis struck:
“Call your mother. This is a time where people who know they’re hundreds of miles away from … where the disaster might have occurred need to call home and tell their relatives, who know it’s only a quarter-inch on the map.”
The toll-free number to the task force is (888) 407-4747. Click following for web site of the Center for International Disaster Information.
Reported by Charles Kao
Charles Kao
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