My expierence with the Asia disaster

[kellie]

My boyfriend and I were flying to Denmark, from Norway last Thursday, and got our first enounter with the Asia disaster. We had been watching the news all week, glued to the TV. Both of us were having trouble sleeping at night, apparently his father was the same way. Anyway, our flight was delayed, and we were all getting stressed. We were all looking out the windows at the plane, wondering what the hell was taking so long. Then the ambulance came. 2 females wearing shorts, and t-shirts came out of the ambulance, and boarded the plane. There was another official looking vehicle, and out of it came men wearing all white hazard-style suites, and masks. The whole airport was quiet. Everyone just stood staring out the windows. I couldnt really see what the men in the white suites were doing. My boyfriend was wondering how many dead bodies were flying on our plane with us. When we landed, the 'Thailand air' passengers were asked to stay on board until all others had finished leaving. We passed the 2 girls, they were Swedish. The dark haired girl kept her face hidden, the other blonde girl had huge cuts on her face, made eye contact, and smiled. There were reporters waiting on the other side of the gate. There were police, and ambulance workers, and lots of crying family members. It was so sad. Again, everyone was quiet.
We flew back to Norway yesterday. The Oslo airport has a roped off section for people to register their lost loved ones. To get clothes, food, and emotional support. Its so sad. I read in the paper there are over 1,000 missing Norwegians, and over 3,000 missing Swedes. I forgot how many were confirmed dead. Less than 200, but I can imagine all those missing people are not alive.

Happy new year right?

[Tequila Zaire]

I wouldn't assume they are not alive just yet...many are having problems getting home and getting in contact with those they need to. Simply put...if you are alive you're not really a priority as the dead need buried, locals need help, and tourists really are in the hands of their embassy's at the moment. With missing you at least have some hope...

As far as happy new year goes...when has one ever come in without sadness from the one before?

[SindelChaos]

Isn't it up to 117,000 confirmed dead now? I heard they were calling off searches.

[kellie]

Isn't it up to 117,000 confirmed dead now? I heard they were calling off searches.

CNN said over 135,000 dead yesterday. I dont know about calling off searches.
All the people that were washed away, I doubt they will be accounted for. Who knows how many really died.
So sad.

[Nightingale]

Searches for the living have pretty muc stopped now. The German THW teams pulled out on 2 January, and were one of the last search teams to leave. The German THW training school is in my town, so most of the people who went out there to help are well known here.

[KilLAtomiK]

god damn i just found out about this today as i got home

[kellie]

Searches for the living have pretty muc stopped now. The German THW teams pulled out on 2 January, and were one of the last search teams to leave. The German THW training school is in my town, so most of the people who went out there to help are well known here.

I heard on the news they pulled a guy out from under a boat today, alive. He has no food or drink since the disaster happened.
They found an 8 month old baby floating on a mattress last Sat also.

[Nightingale]

I heard on the news they pulled a guy out from under a boat today, alive. He has no food or drink since the disaster happened.
They found an 8 month old baby floating on a mattress last Sat also.

Yup, there are going to be a lucky few; we often get to see stories of people who have survived for a week or longer. Even so, it doesn't mean that all the teams are likely to stay in the hope of finding one or two more people. Better to get the relief in and concentrate on that now, so that more people don't die from the aftermath.