First Swedish dead flown home

The first Swedish dead from the Asian tsunami have come home to a nation which fears it may have suffered its worst loss of life for 200 years.

The first Swedish victims of the tsunami disaster return to Sweden early today.

Six coffins, draped in the bright blue and yellow flag of Sweden, were met by the king, Prime Minister Goran Persson and relatives of the dead in the early hours of this morning. More bodies are expected to arrive in the days and weeks to come.

"In our country this is something very unusual. We have been spared large losses of lives. Now, we are forced to get accustomed to this painful experience," Mr Persson told a news conference before the bodies arrived home from the Thai resort island of Phuket.

"Together we will now have to move on with our everyday tasks, which make 2005 just like every other year, though 2005 will be dark and heavy."

Sweden, with 52 dead and 1,903 missing or unaccounted for around winter holiday resorts in Asia, is Europe's hardest-hit country.

A guard of honour carried the coffins one by one from the grey Hercules military transport plane. A priest led a short ceremony for the relatives of the victims on the airport tarmac with King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, the prime minister and other officials also present.

Relatives then laid flowers on the coffins before the dead were driven away in a fleet of hearses.

The Swedish government has faced harsh criticism in the country of nine million for its slow reaction to the disaster.

Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds said in an interview on Swedish television yesterday that the government had been unprepared for the scale of the tragedy.

Thailand is a popular winter destination for Swedes and about 20,000 were holidaying there when the tsunami struck.

The number of Swedish missing may fall as police double-check the list, as occurred in Norway and Denmark. But the government has warned the death toll is likely to rise.

If Swedes' worst fears are realised, it is likely to be the biggest since loss of life since the early 19th century for a nation whose neutrality kept it out of the two world wars of the 20th century.

The 1994 sinking of the ferry Estoniawas the most recent disaster in the Nordic region. Of the 852 dead, 551 were Swedes.

Like other EU nations, Sweden is to hold a three-minute silence at midday today. Persson will also hold a short memorial ceremony at his government headquarters.