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General News
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2006-12-05 21:17:49-05
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Thailand buries last unidentified tsunami victims
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Bangkok, Dec 6: The last 125 unidentified victims of the tsunami that struck Thailand two years ago have been buried. About 5,400 people died in Thailand, half of them foreign tourists, on Boxing Day 2004. Another 3,000 are still reported missing. The efforts to identify the remains of victims, often badly decomposed, has been described as the largest forensic operation in history. The final bodies are those that the authorities were unable to identify through DNA testing or dental records. The plain ceremony began with prayers by members of the Buddhist, Christian and Muslim communities as it is not known which religion those being buried followed. Most are thought to be Asian, many of them possibly illegal workers from Burma whose families would have been unable to come to Thailand to find them. A special cemetery is being constructed across the road from the forensic centre in Khao Lak. The tsunami killed more than 200,000 people, most of them in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India.
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