Quake in far east

[sky9]

Maldives

Having spoken to my son I am absolutely amazed that the Tour Operators even considered keeping guests in the Maldives after the damage that was done. With raw sewage on the beaches and no doubt everywhere else, basic hygiene was "down the pan" and some of them did nothing to help the passengers get back to Male for a flight home. They do have a duty of care to their passengers and the breakdown of any health control should have been enough for them to take immediate action.

It would be interesting to know how many empty seats left Male for the UK on Monday, the main changeover day, especially since the airlines were not refusing travel to anyone who turned up at Male Airport.

[Barnacle Bill]

SKY9.......Thankfully your son is alive and well. BUT, do you REALLY think the "tour operators" choose to keep people where they are, with sewage on the beach etc? Do you really not care for the 50,000 people who perished and their families who have lost EVERYTHING and can`t leave? The enormity of the disaster is more than just Mytravel or Thomson can handle, and quite frankly getting someone home who is alive and well is not the first priority.
Hopefully, he rolled his sleeves up and tried to help out. Others just vanished to the airport and moaned at the tour reps to get them out.
This is a reality check for all of us.

[charterguy]

UKBIKER

Tour operators will have paid for your hotel accomodation by now. Your hotel (and the company that operates it) may no longer exist. It is therefore unlikely that the tour operator will retrieve any money, so they are more than happy to fly you out. If the hotel no longer exists, perhaps they expect you to make a claim on your travel insurance ? Didn't buy any ? Shame !!!! You may also want to check if your credit card company provides some sort of cover if you didn't take out any travel insurance. Good luck.

CG

[Fris B. Fairing]

I was surprised that there had been no mention of the Cocos Islands. I have just received the following advice from a resident on the island:

"Despite being fairly close to the epicentre it appears as if the very deep water around Cocos and the fact that we sit on top a north-south mountain range saved us."