Three Maltese family members were injured in the tsunami that slammed into the South East Asian coasts on Boxing Day in one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent history.
Another 19 Maltese holiday-makers who were in the afflicted region have still not made contact with their families, Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Frendo said during a press conference yesterday.
Nancy Woolner was operated upon yesterday and she and her daughter Wendy, 26, are in stable condition in a hospital in southern Thailand.
Charmaine, 31, Wendy's sister, was initially declared missing - one of the many thousands - after walls of water smashed into the idyllic Thai island of Phi Phi. But last night sources said she had been found alive and was being treated for injuries in another hospital.
Nancy and Charmaine were visiting Wendy for Christmas and sources said the family, from Rabat, was close to the shore when disaster struck.
The Foreign Ministry and other governments worked feverishly yesterday to make a tally of the number of their citizens involved in the disaster.
The region is counting its dead after massive waves triggered by a strong earthquake sucked sunbathers, bungalows and cars out to sea. At this time of the year, South East Asia is packed with Europeans and Americans escaping the northern winter.
Dr Frendo said the ministry was informed that 50 Maltese were in Thailand, 13 in India and 12 in Sri Lanka last weekend. There were no Maltese in Malaysia or the Maldives.
Four of the unaccounted for were known to be in Thailand, six in Sri Lanka and nine in India.
Dr Frendo admitted that huge communication problems, coupled with the fact that some families were not even aware of their relatives' whereabouts, made locating the Maltese nationals an arduous task. It was therefore too early to say whether the tsunamis had left any more Maltese victims.
This morning, the head of protocol at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Olaf Terribile, will be flying to Bangkok to provide any assistance to the victims and to try and help relocate any people unaccounted for.
In Thailand's Phi Phi island - which provided the backdrop to the film The Beach - 200 bungalows at two resorts were swept out to sea, along with some of their staff and customers. More than 300 people, many of them tourists, are believed to have died, a rescue worker was quoted as saying yesterday.
Hundreds of workers and foreign tourists, including several injured, had been evacuated from the 28-square-kilometre island, leaving about 800 still stranded in the island's hills.
A photographer for AFP who reached the island yesterday said that hardly a building had been left standing.
The tremor was even felt as far inland as Bangkok, about 930 miles north of the epicentre.
Joanne Caruana, who is on holiday in the Thai capital, told The Times she felt the hotel building swaying from side to side. "We're on the 33rd floor of the hotel building and for a few seconds it felt like we were on a boat," she said.
The devastation has prompted several Maltese holiday-makers to revise their plans with one airline representative telling The Times that a number had cancelled their holidays to Thailand.
Travel representatives said it is very difficult to establish exactly how many people were in the afflicted areas since the region is popular with island hoppers with no fixed agenda.
Foreign Ministry help-line
The Foreign Affairs Ministry urged those in contact with any Maltese citizens in the area to phone on 7900 3879 or 7947 6382.
Maltese nationals in need of consular assistance should either contact the British Embassy in Bangkok for assistance on 662 305 8333 or the Maltese Honorary Consulate in Bangkok on 662 5357 6703.
The Thai Foreign Ministry has set up a 24-hour coordinating centre for foreign nationals affected by tidal waves. The phone numbers are 662 643 5262 and 662 6447245.
Information may also be obtained from http://ems.narenthorn.or.th