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Two Swedes missing after Samoa tsunami

Two young Swedes are reported to be missing after the tsunami which swept across the South Pacific islands of Samoa on Tuesday evening.

Published: 2 October 2009 07:52 CEST

The two Swedes, 24-year-old Christian Karlström, and a 25-year-old woman named only as Catherine, were last heard from on Saturday when they left Morea, north of Tahiti, and were sailing towards New Zealand, according to the newspaper Aftonbladet.

Their parents have informed the foreign ministry of their fears for the safety of the pair.

“The embassy in Canberra is trying to get in contact with them, with help of their contacts in Samoa,” André Mkandawire at the foreign ministry confirmed to the newspaper.

Christian Karlström left his home of Östersund in northern Sweden in April on a year-long sailing trip. He flew to Panama with a 22-year-old friend from Sweden and met up with a Belgian friend and his 12 metre yacht.

They set sail for the South Pacific shortly after arrival in Panama and have been keeping regular phone contact with their families in Sweden since.

Catherine joined the party when they met in the Galapagos islands in June.

But since telephone calls to their respective parents on Saturday nothing has been heard from them.

During the phone call Christian Karlsson told his parents that his friend had switched to another boat. He has since been located safe in Roratonga and has confirmed that he has also been unable to contact either Christian or Catherine.

The parents remain hopeful that the pair have found shelter on one of the islands in the area.

“Of course we are worried, but we think that they are on some island. She said that they were going to the Cook Islands,” Catherine’s father told the newspaper.

The tsunami struck the Samoan islands and Tonga on Tuesday causing widespread destruction and a death toll which currently stands at 149.

The 4.5 metre high tsunami was generated by an 8.3 magnitude earthquake which struck the area at 6.48pm Swedish time.

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Turkish community in Germany gathers to help earthquake victims

In dozens of cities in Germany, donations are being collected for victims of the massive earthquake, which as of Wednesday afternoon had claimed more than 11,000 lives.

People are bringing tent stoves, flashlights, diapers, fleece blankets, and hand warmers. One of the many collection points has been organized by the German-Turkish care service Dosteli in Berlin.

At the governmental level, Germany — home to about three million people of Turkish origin — will” mobilise all the assistance we can activate”, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on Wednesday.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had a call with Erdogan and sent his “deep condolences”, as a search and rescue team left Tuesday afternoon with 50 rescuers and equipment.

The EU said it was “funding humanitarian organisations that are carrying out search and rescue operations” in Syria as well as providing water and sanitation support and distributing blankets.

Charities line up to help

Particularly in Berlin, where over eight percent of the population is of Turkish origin, people have lined up down streets to drop off supplies. But they have led large donation efforts in cities like Frankfurt and Hamburg, where several businesses like bars set aside space to collect supplies,

The Dostali team had been sorting clothes and hygiene items all night, packing them and loading them into trucks. “Almost the entire Turkish diaspora in Berlin was there,” one volunteer told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ)

The helpers organized themselves via appeals in social media. From the collection points, the donations are to be transported by trucks and planes to the affected regions.

READ ALSO: Who are Germany’s foreign population and where do they live?

In response to an inquiry from the FAZ, Turkish Airlines confirmed that it was delivering donations from 14 countries to the Turkish crisis areas, Germany being one of them.

The Turkish community in Germany is well connected via social media – “and everyone wants to help,” said Kübra Oguz, a volunteer with the Puduhepa e.V., initiative founded by Turkish migrant women.

In order for this to happen in a targeted manner, she recommended directly donating money, which could then be funneled to buy food, hygiene products or shoes, depending on the need.

Several organisations in Germany and worldwide are also accepting donations for humanitarian aid, include UNICEF, Save the Children and Aktion Deutschland Hilft.

With reporting from AFP.

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