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Search for 16 Britons missing on islands hit by tsunami
Ed Harris2 Oct 2009
A search for as many as 16 missing Britons on South Pacific islands hit by a massive tsunami resumed today.
Waves up to 20ft high triggered by an earthquake this week have claimed nearly 150 lives so far in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga, and led to a huge clean-up operation.
As another quake struck the region today, British consular officials were trying to trace “a number” — reportedly 16 — of British nationals thought to have been in the area. The Foreign Office said the figures were changing constantly.
A spokeswoman added that communications were “remain severely disrupted. Phone lines are down and many roads impassable. We have reports of a number of British nationals on Samoa or in the surrounding region that we have not yet been in contact with.
“Because the situation is developing rapidly and we are receiving updates all the time we cannot be drawn into speculating on numbers.
“Our consular team on the ground are assisting any British nationals.”
The scale of the destruction was today becoming apparent. After inspecting the south-east coast of the main island of Upolu, the hardest-hit area, Samoan prime minister Tuilaepa Sailele said: “The devastation caused was complete. In some villages no house was standing. All that was achieved within 10 minutes by the very powerful tsunami.”
He said his own village of Lesa had been washed away.
Today's quake was magnitude 6.3, but no tsunami was reported.
The two-year-old son of a British couple swept out to sea is feared to be among the victims. A spokesman for the British High Commission in New Zealand said his father was taken to hospital in the Samoan capital of Apia.
He and his wife, originally from Britain, live in Auckland in New Zealand, sources said. The spokesman said there was no information about the man's injuries, or whether he was still in hospital, but that he was in a stable condition.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said the son was “missing, presumed dead”. Tuesday's tsunami happened after an earthquake, with a magnitude of up to 8.3, struck about 120 miles from American Samoa. Thousands were left homeless as entire communities were destroyed. Residents and tourists fled to higher ground as cars and people were sucked out to sea.
Barack Obama declared a major disaster in American Samoa, a US territory, and pledged a “swift” response. The European Union released an initial £137,000 in aid. Australia and New Zealand also pledged assistance.
