THAILAND: Speaking yesterday from the Thai resort of Phuket, the Irish Ambassador to Thailand and Malaysia, Mr Dan Mulhall, said he had spent the past 48 hours touring hospitals in search for Irish victims.
"We have a significant list of people who were reported to have been in the area on the day in question, and we are trying to pursue all of those individuals, and gradually we are reducing the number of people about whom we have genuine concerns.
"We have particular concerns about people who would have been in areas which were particularly badly affected by the tidal wave, places like Phi Phi and Patong Beach and so forthWe know that some Irish people were in those areas which were very badly affected. We are trying to trace those people now.
"We are looking with particular concern at a number of cases."
He said holidaymakers were being evacuated on free flights from Phuket to Bangkok. Diplomatic staff were providing travel documents to Irish people who had lost their passports.
"These hospitals remind you of a war zone. You've got people who are battered, bruised and dazed. There is a general air of shock and confusion, although I have to say the authorities here are handling the situation quite well given the enormity of what's happened," Mr Mulhall told RTÉ Radio.
He noted identification of bodies had been hampered by the fact that many of the victims had been swimming at the time the tidal wave struck.
"I myself went to a morgue today to look at some photographs of those who had been brought in dead, and we did not find anyone who resembled the Irish people we know and are concerned about. But we will continue to pursue these."