Sadness struck Nordic countries of Norway and Sweden Thursday, as the prime ministers announced that most of the thousands of their citizens missing in the Indian Ocean tsunami catastrophe may be dead.
Norwegian Prime Minster Kjell Magne Bondevik said Thursday that after another day's search in the southeast Asian coastal areas, the figure of missing Norwegians increased from 430 to 462 instead of declining, and the fate of 830 others was uncertain.
"It has been a frighteningly stable figure at well above 400 for the number of the missing," Bondevik said on Norwegian NRK radio, "And with every hour that passes hope is diminishing." He asked Norwegians to "be prepared that many of those may be dead."
The Norwegians are among more than 6,000 foreign tourists, mostly Europeans, still missing after Sunday's Indian Ocean tsunami hit coasts and wiped out beach resorts, killing over 115, 000 people, according to government and health officials.
The Norwegian government is now busily sending emergency airflights to the flooded region to evacuate citizens. It announced Thursday an increased amount of aid to the impact region from the original 50 million Norwegian Krona (about US$8.2 million) to 100 million (about US$16.4 million).
On the same day, Prime Minister Bondevik announced Jan. 1 the day of memorial and all flags fly half-mast that day.
Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson said Thursday there have been 44 confirmed deaths, but the final death toll will be in the hundreds, and may even exceed 1,000.
Persson told a news conference in Stockholm that it was still " highly uncertain" about the exact death toll, but it seemed increasingly clear that Sweden will be the hardest hit one by the tsunamis among Western countries.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry on Thursday said about 2,500 Swedish tourists were still missing in Thailand, increasing its estimate from 1,400 given Wednesday. The announcement came after travel agencies warned the number of Swedes unaccounted for could be more than 3,000. Later that day, the ministry announced Sweden will provide a 500 million Swedish Krona (about US$76 million) aid to the flooded region.
The Nordic countries suffer a long cold winter season, so the people there love going to the hot southeast Asian beaches for vacation. This makes the Nordic countries the worst hit by the tsunamis among Western countries.