Relatives’ anger at tsunami inquest

Relatives of 91 Britons killed in the Asian tsunami have expressed anger at a coroner’s inquiry into their deaths.

Liz Jones, whose 23-year-old daughter Charlotte died in the Boxing Day disaster, said an early warning system could have saved her daughter’s life. She told the in inquest: “If my daughter had had five minutes, she would have been alive today.”

Other relatives questioned why no warnings had been passed between the different countries affected by the tsunami.

Another woman expressed anger at learning that the body of her six-year-old son was being flown home from a newspaper reporter, while another relative said that the body of one British victim had been mistakenly flown to Germany.

The four-day inquest was launched today at the Olympia Exhibition Centre in London. It will examine the deaths of one German and one Swiss citizen, in addition to the 91 Britons.

Alison Thompson, the west London coroner in charge of the inquest, stressed that it would be limited and would only consider when, where and how each victim died.

She said: “This court is prohibited in law from looking at any other issues. I’m very aware that families may have concerns about other issues, for example the absence of an early warning system, the speed of the local response overseas to the disaster, or indeed the level of involvement of our consular staff overseas.

“While I fully acknowledge and respect their feelings in relation to this, I am sorry these matters cannot be examined in this court.”

Dr Tim Henstock, from the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, said that an early warning system might not any difference in the absence of evacuation plans. He said: “An early warning system does not help unless you have infrastructure and mechanisms and everyone knows that is supposed to be done if a warning comes in.”

The total number of people listed as dead or missing in all the countries affected by the tsunami stands at 270,000.

(KMcA/SP)