- STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The
final tally of Swedes killed by the Asian tsunami could be more than 1,000,
Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson said on Thursday.
-
- "By today we've been able to identify seven times
more dead Swedes than yesterday, 44 people," Persson told a news conference.
-
- "It is clear to everyone that the number of casualties
will be in the hundreds, in the worst case the number could rise over 1,000,"
he said.
-
- The Swedish death toll could be the highest in Europe.
-
- Until now, Sweden's worst disaster in recent history
is the September 1994 sinking of passenger ferry Estonia when 551 Swedes
were among the 852 drowned.
-
- An estimated 20,000-30,000 Swedes are estimated to have
been in the Asian region hit by Sunday's undersea earthquake and subsequent
tsunami waves, which flooded Indian Ocean shores, killing more than 120,000
people, according to the latest count.
-
- Estimates of the number of Swedes missing or unaccounted
for vary between 1,400 and more than 5,000.
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