Four New Zealanders in southern Asia for whom the Government held grave concerns are now presumed dead. The change in status from the Foreign Affairs Ministry brings the number of New Zealanders believed killed in the Boxing Day tsunamis to seven. The presumed dead include Auckland couple Belinda, 26, and Andrew Welch, 42, who were holidaying in a beachfront bungalow in Khao Lak, Thailand, when the tsunamis struck.
A memorial service for the couple will be held in Takapuna, Auckland, on Friday.
Those confirmed dead are former Kapiti woman Leone Cosens, 51, who had lived in Phuket for 12 years; Craig Patrick Baxter, 37, who had lived in Australia since he was a child and was holidaying on Phi Phi Island with his pregnant Thai wife, Miliwan, 28; and June Kander, 74, a New Zealand-born Canadian citizen, who was killed while visiting the Sri Lankan coastal town of Mirissa.
source: The Dominion Post