Man returns with caskets after holiday
By Sira Habibu and Photo by Goh Gaik Lee
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He returned home to Malacca last night with two caskets containing the bodies of his four-year-old daughter Mei Xin and wife Yeo Tiew Kheng, aged 47.
“My wife, two daughters, three other relatives and I were taking a walk by the beach on Sunday morning when we saw a white foam line heading towards the shore. We started running away.
“Suddenly, a giant wave hit the shore and swept us away just as we were about to reach the roadside,” he said.
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PAINFUL FAREWELL: Ho touching the casket of his daughter at the Kathu Patong Hospital in Phuket.- Starpic by Goh Gaik Lee. |
Ho, 52, said he found his 15-year-old daughter and three relatives, including his sister-in-law, immediately after the incident but not his little girl and wife.
“I went from one hospital to another looking for them only to find their bodies at Kathu Patong Hospital the next day (Monday),” said Ho who could not hold back his tears.
The bodies were flown to Kuala Lumpur International Airport by Mas Cargo at 7pm last night and the funeral is expected to be held on Friday.
His car parked at the beach hotel was also damaged by the waves.
Another dead Malaysian sent to the Patong Hospital on Monday was cremated in Phuket yesterday.
His family members declined to be quoted in the newspaper because they feared for their father’s life as he had just suffered a heart attack.
“My father does not know that his youngest son is dead.
“We do not want the news report to reach him before we have the chance to break the bad news to him personally. Please understand our predicament,” said the deceased’s sister.
Hospital director Dr Thaweesak Netwong said 142 bodies were sent to the hospital over the last three days.
“Most of the deceased are Europeans and many have yet to be identified,” he said.
Carpenters were busy making coffins at the hospital compound as more and more bodies were fished out of the sea.
Meanwhile, the number of Malaysians found killed by Sunday’s tsunami in Phuket has now risen to six.
Malaysian consul general Azizan Ismail said “a dozen or so” Malaysians were still missing.
Two other Malaysians, Sue Siew Keong and Lim Woo Jeong, were found dead in Trang on Sunday. The name of the sixth victim was not available at press time.
Azizan, who is based in Songkhla, has been in Phuket since Monday.
He said a desk had been set up at the Phuket Municipality Hall to process applications by Malaysians who needed emergency travel documents.
He said the emergency documents were being issued “on the run” as he went about assessing the situation on the island.
“I have also waived the fee for the documents because many did not have the money at hand,” he said.
About 40 Malaysians had returned home since the tsunami struck, he said.
He added that there were 15 Malaysians, who had come to Phuket and the surrounding areas in five private yachts, flew back on Monday night, leaving their vessels behind.
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