Swedish Boys Missing After New Tsunami

The southern part of the Indonesian island of Java has been hit by a tsunami, which was set off Monday by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean about 240 kilometers southwest of the island’s west-coast. The quake measured 7.7 on the Richter Scale. As a result, the waves which hit the coastline were as tall as 2-3 meters.
     Among the tsunami-struck cities are Pangandaran, which is a popular tourist destination. At least 250 people are reported killed and at least 80 people are missing, according to the Indonesian Red Cross.
     Among those still missing are two Swedish boys – a 5 year-old and a 10 year-old. The boys’ father has been admitted at a local hospital with damages caused by the tsunami. Neither the Swedish Embassy nor the Foreign Ministry has been informed how serious the injuries of these Swedish victims are. It also remains unknown if there are other Swedes in the area. However, Pangandaran usually attracts many bagpackers who come there on their own without the assistance of travel agencies.
     ”So it is very likely that there are more Swedes, which we don’t know about,” spokeswoman Eva Lindhé from the Swedish Foreign Ministry tells the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter.
     The Swedish Foreign Ministry has now sent personnel to the catastrophe area in order to get in touch with other Swedes who might have been there when the waves struck.

The earthquake was felt as far away as the capital of Jakarta, where the tallest skyscrapers registered modest sways, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The earthquake was followed by an after-quake measuring 6.1 on the Richter Scale two hours later.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *