(30 Dec 2004) NB: TRUE DATE CREATED = 27/12/2004
Rome, Italy
1. Wide shot of Civil Defence Headquarters
2. Civil Defence logo
3. Guidi Bertolaso during press conference
4. Southeast Asia map
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Guido Bertolaso, Italian Civil Defence Chief and Earthquake aid and rescue coordinator:
"I wouldn''t say which is the last one, because figures will increase every minute and I am very afraid that we will be just over 100-thousand victims because the area is very large and all the different countries around the Bengal Gulf have been very heavily affected."
6. Southeast Asia map
7. Guido Bertolaso walking away
Rome, Italy
8. Wide shot of Italian Foreign Ministry headquarters
9. Pan left Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini arriving at briefing
10. Cameraman
11. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Gianfranco Fini, Italian Foreign Minister:
"We know of eleven people, probably Italians, who died. We managed to confirm the identity of only three of them because, as you can imagine, the tourists who were hit by the wave on the beach had everything washed away from them. The number of Italians who are still missing is around one hundred but it decreased after yesterday, which confirms that even in the difficult conditions they find themselves they have managed to contact either their tour operators or consulates and embassies."
12. Officials leaving press briefing
Paris, France
13. Various shots of French emergency workers at airport waiting to leave
14. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dominique Maurin, head of French rescue team from Secouristes Sans Frontieres:
"This is a humanitarian operation with doctors and a field hospital - in the first time (instance), and in the second time (instance) we have ten first aid workers working when you are collapsed in building."
15. Various shots of French emergency workers leaving
16. Empty crisis centre at airport (for possible tourists returning)
STORYLINE:
Italian Civil Defence Chief warned on Monday that the Sumatra quake may claim many more lives than currently estimated.
Guido Bertolaso, who is coordinating the aid rescue operation from Italy, said he feared there could be as many as 100-thousand victims.
On Monday, the death toll from the magnitude 9.0 earthquake stood more than 22,000, with millions left homeless.
The Italian Civil Defence has already sent aeroplanes to the area and is coordinating operations to repatriate Italian and European citizens.
Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini stated earlier in the day that 11 Italians had died in the disaster and 100 were still missing.
Nine Italians were killed on the Thai resort islands of Phuket and Phi Phi, while two died in Sri Lanka, Fini told reporters.
Fini said there were difficulties identifying victims who had been killed while on the beach because the water surge would have washed their identification documents away from them.
In a statement released earlier Monday, Fini said that the destruction caused by the waves and the lack of transport made it hard to reach local airports.
He said that the evacuation of Italians who remained in the area struck by the quake would take longer than originally expected.
Fini had said that some Italians would be flown home by Tuesday.
He said on Monday that Italy was flying planes to Colombo, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Phuket, to bring medical aid and help evacuate those left stranded by the disaster.
Special flights had already brought some 450 Italians back to Italy, Fini said.
He said that there were around 5,000 Italians in affected areas when the quake struck.
Keywords - Indian ocean earthquake tsunami
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