Nordic nations ring in New Year in mourning as thousands feared dead

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2004

STOCKHOLM (AFP) — Four Nordic nations were set to ring in the New Year in shock and mourning, faced with their deadliest catastrophe in modern times as people sat glued to news reports from Asia where thousands of their loved ones are feared dead.

"Never has the step into a new year felt heavier," Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson told reporters on Friday.

The number of Swedes, Norwegians, Danes and Finns confirmed dead after quake-driven tidal waves slammed Indian Ocean shorelines remained under 100 late Friday, but officials have warned that chances of finding the 4,700 Nordic holiday-makers still missing in the region are slim.

"Five days have passed. Fifty-nine Swedes are dead, 3,559 are missing. If this number does not diminish quickly, this will be...