Brother identifies fifth SA victim

2005-01-02 22:16

Krabi Island - Johannesburg tourist Paul Sender was found dead in Thailand on Sunday, the fifth confirmed South African victim of last week's devastating tsunami in South Asia, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) has confirmed.

His brother, Steven, identified 28-year-old Paul's body at a hospital mortuary on Krabi Island on Sunday morning, said SAJBD Gauteng chairperson Zev Krengel.

Steven initially slammed media reports of his brother's death, refusing to believe he had died until his body was found.

Resolving to search for his missing brother himself, he boarded a flight to Thailand 14:00 on Wednesday - just as a mercy-flight ferried in 65 survivors of the tragedy, which is thought to have claimed as many as 150 000 lives.

It was that flight - organised by the SAJBD, Netcare 911, Discovery Health, and the government - which also brought home the bodies of the other four South Africans who died: Morris Isaacson, Roy Fitzsimmons, Daphne Coetzee and Dolores Ribeira.

Steven went to Thailand with a friend, receiving help through the SAJBD in obtaining Paul's fingerprints from the Department of Home Affairs and DNA, through the South African Police Service and Interpol.

Krengel said he visited the family on learning from Paul's father that Steven had found his body. He said the Sender parents and their daughter were "holding up".

It was while he was there that an Interpol officer arrived to collect blood from Paul's parents for DNA matching, he said.

DNA of the other South Africans still missing had yet to be sent to Thailand, he added.

Krengel said initial reports indicated that Steven might have found his brother's body at the mortuary of Krabi Hospital. It also appeared at this stage that the body might be flown back to South Africa via Bangkok.

Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Ronnie Mamoepa, said there were still 12 South Africans unaccounted for, ten of them in Thailand and two in Myanmar. The two South Africans feared missing in India had been found.

- SAPA