THAI police have ordered families and friends of foreigners to stay away from tsunami-hit areas, including Buddhist temples turned temporary morgues, where they have searched for missing loved ones. The move was necessary to allow hundreds of forensic experts to get on with the job of identifying bodies of thousands of Thais and foreigners through DNA samples, Police Lieutenant Tuaytup Dwibyunsin said in a statement. "Friends and family members must refrain from visiting the tsumami-affected locations, temples, mosques, all operational grounds, including DNA gathering sites and autopsy sites," Lt Tuaytup Dwibyunsin said. "We appreciate your assistance very much, but we have to get organised. We don't want you risking your lives".
Hundreds of foreigners have scoured temporary morgues in the past eight days, searching for family and friends either dead or missing after the killer waves slammed into Thailand's Andaman Sea coast and islands. Thailand's national disaster centre said 5046 bodies — 2459 foreigners — had been recovered from smashed luxury hotels and fishing villages, a popular destination for sun-starved foreigners during the cold northern European winter. Nearly 4000 people are still missing — a number that dropped from about 6500 after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the list was being reviewed — including more than 1600 foreigners, many of them Scandinavians. While respecting their grief, Lt Dwibyunsin said the order was necessary to "prevent tampering of evidence and obstructing official gathering of DNA information". The statement was addressed to "friends, family members searching for loved ones, foreigners, foreign volunteers and members of the press" and aimed at protecting them from potential disease. Foreign volunteers must register with the authorities and needed permission to enter restricted areas, it said. |