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SCMP Reporter

Iris Choi, 14, survives the tsunami horror in Phuket, but she has lost her father and a brother

New Year's Day brought joy as well as tragedy for a Hong Kong family in Phuket, when a girl caught up in the tsunami disaster was found alive amid the heartbreaking news that her father and a brother had died.

Fourteen-year-old Iris Choi Gay-leen, also a Filipino citizen, was fighting for her life last night in the intensive-care unit (ICU) of Vachira Phuket Hospital.

But her father, Choi Chung-huen, 49, died at  Patong Hospital. His body has been sent to the Philippines,  with that of Iris' brother.

Iris' Filipino mother, Marouth Choi, was not hurt in the disaster, and was at her daughter's bedside yesterday.

The deputy director of the hospital, Weerawat Yorsaengrat, said the girl had respiratory problems and was too weak to be transferred back to Hong Kong. 'She has been admitted to other wards,  but her condition got worse and worse, and therefore she was moved to the ICU,' he said.

'She is very ill, [but] I'm optimistic,' Dr Weerawat  added. 'Even if there is [only] a small chance, we'll do our best.'

He  said that in addition to the hospital's own staff,  the girl had been treated by about 10 doctors flown in from Bangkok.

The government has not released information about  where the girl was when the tsunami struck. A team of Hong Kong government officers yesterday went to Krabi - where people injured on Phi Phi Island were taken - and Khao Lak, where many Hongkongers were staying when catastrophe struck.

The team's co-ordinator, Principal Assistant Secretary for Security Linda So Ka-pik,  said last night that the Hong Kong police officers sent  to Khao Lak had recovered some Hong Kong identity cards.  They would continue trying to find the cards' owners, she said.

Officers sent to Krabi were unable to locate any Hong Kong citizens yesterday.

Forensic experts are taking DNA samples from unclaimed bodies, to aid in their identification: the decomposing remains must be buried or cremated. Ms So said yesterday  relatives of missing Hongkongers did not need to fly to Thailand to offer samples of their  DNA for matching, as the Hong Kong government would provide assistance in that field. Details would be announced in due course, she said.

Elsewhere in Phuket,  people at devastated Patong Beach held religious services for the dead and mobilised students to clean up the beach.

Two rituals were held at the beach: a traditional Taoist ceremony was followed by a Buddhist one, with more than 150 Thai monks taking part. Roughly equal numbers of locals and foreigners joined in the proceedings.

The rituals were organised by Amy Lin Sueyu, a Taiwanese tour operator in Phuket.

She had 62 clients holidaying in the Patong area when the tsunami struck last Sunday. All survived unharmed.

'People in Taiwan are very sad and concerned about the tsunami, and Chinese tradition is that we should hold a ritual to let the de- ceased's wandering spirits know they have already died, and should proceed to heaven,' she said.

The ceremonies began around noon. A Taoist master began by chanting prayers and burning paper offerings. Food, candles and incense were prepared as part of the ceremonies.

In the Buddhist ritual, about 150 monks chanted prayers while one sprayed holy water around the venue.

The ceremonies lasted about an hour.

Before the rituals began, students, teachers and volunteers took part in a cleanup effort.

About 1,000 students from 10 secondary schools took part in the work.

A teacher from one of the schools said there was little the students could do to make substantial contributions to the rescue and relieve operations.

He hoped their cleanup work would give them a sense of helping out in the disaster.



HK teenager fighting for her life