Desparate for news of missing Europeans

Sixty-seven Europeans were confirmed dead, and the largest group of Europeans still unaccounted for appeared to be from Sweden, where tour operators said they were still awaiting news of some 1,600 tourists unaccounted for in Thailand.

Meanwhile anxious relatives yesterday were flooding official hotlines in their home countries or calling embassies overseas in search of news of loved ones.

Other families used unofficial channels, such as news websites, to seek out information about relatives.

Gareth Reade, of Solihull, resorted to the BBC website to seek information on his brother, who was on the main Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Kevin Tunbridge, of Bury St Edmunds, said Monday he had no contact with his son Luke, 20, or his son's girlfriend Laura Blackman, 20, who are a coastal resort in south Thailand.

"I have tried to contact the Foreign Office and the Bangkok embassy all day, but all I have reached is a recorded BT message. All we want is some information," he said.

In Stockholm, the Swedish foreign ministry came under fire for being unable to field the thousands of telephone calls.

However some families did finally manage to make contact with their loved ones.

Chris Pratt, of Garmouth in Scotland, said he had just received a mobile phone call from his son Richard, who is trapped in the Hikkaduwa region of Sri Lanka.

"He has cuts and bruises after being sucked from hotel by huge wave," Pratt wrote on the BBC website.