Internet focus of search for missing

A Hong Kong company became the latest website yesterday to offer a helpline to distraught families waiting for news of relatives caught up in the tsunami disaster.

Photographs of the dead and injured taken by volunteers in hospitals and emergency centres in Phuket have been loaded on to the site.

Those missing relatives can now upload their own pictures which will be automatically scanned against the database using a hi-tech facial mapping system.

Close matches will then be emailed back for relatives to see if it is their loved one.

The free and hourly updated site - www.PeopleMatch.rc.tv - was set up by RC Group, a specialist biometric company.

Never before has the internet been such a focus of intense despair or relief with hundreds of sites worldwide offering news of those who survived or perished in the waves which swept southern Asia.

The Herald is running its own message board for concerned friends and relatives.

The relatively new phenomenon of blogging has come into its own, offering some of the most vivid descriptions of the devastation as well as information about resources, aid, donations and volunteer efforts.

On the websites of more established news organisations such as the BBC, Sky News and CNN seemingly endless lists of names have posted desperate pleas for information, sometimes followed by hopeful responses.

A spokesman for the BBC said its site had been visited by up to 3 million people a day since the disaster with 50,000 emails to their message board and 900,000 people logging on to it.

This is a selection of messages on the various websites:

"We are desperately searching for Flory, a blond three-year-old girl. She was lost in Medilla Beach, Tangalle." Sabine Pienitz, Frankfurt, Germany

"Has anyone any news from the Banyak Islands? They are very close to the earthquake epicentre. I used to live there and can only fear the worst. I have many friends there." Gary from Jersey

"Peter Gooderson, please let us know if you are alright. Grandpa is very worried."Angela, Ballito, and the Goodersons

"Would like to know if Sue Glover and partner are safe and well. They are from Manchester area. They were due to marry on Boxing Day in Thailand." Anonymous

"I was in Mirissa on the day of the tsunami, and I think I may have been talking to your parents on a hill as we waited to feel safe enough to return after the tsunami. Unfortunately I did not ask their names, but they appear to fit your description.....when I first met the lady who may be your mother I was struck by the fact that she was wearing red lipstick - does this sound like your mother?" Response from Victoria Temple, of Stroud, England, to Margariet van der Valk's appeal for information about her parents

"Found - safe and sound! My friend Alison Bunch and her family, husband Tony, children, Naomi, Sarah, Adam, and Simon, are safely home. They lost all their personal possessions and are very shocked, but are now safely home again. They said that the help and support of the Sri Lankans was amazing and they are very, very grateful." Amanda Bate of Radlett, Herts

"Home was hit by tidal wave . . . practically lost everything....family is fine...thank god... to all out there... appreciate what you have...even the smallest things and event that u consider irrelevant.. cause after this mishap...well..view's on life has change a lot for me.. back to cleaning up and getting home back on its feet". "Ronnietan" from near Penang

- INDEPENDENT