Paedophile alert ... then Kristian, 12, is 'abducted'

A TEAM of Swedish detectives has flown to southern Thailand after doctors reported that a boy of 12 from Stockholm had been kidnapped from a public hospital as he recovered from minor injuries caused by the tsunami.

The disappearance of Kristian Walker from the hospital on the holiday island of Phuket followed a warning from the Swedish branch of Save the Children that orphaned youngsters of all nationalities left alone after the disaster were particularly vulnerable to paedophiles.

Kristian was separated from his mother, Madeleine, 45, brother David, 14, and sister Anna, seven, when a huge wave ripped through the beachside villa in which the family was staying in the popular resort of Khao Lak.

In the wake of the disaster, the boy’s father, Dan, 47, and grandfather Daniel, 78, flew straight to Phuket to search for members of the family, finally tracking down Kristian’s brother and sister to a hospital six miles from their holiday home.

After days of searching, Dan Walker returned to Sweden with the two distressed children, assuming his wife and Kristian had perished.

The boy’s grandfather, an American who lives in Florida, agreed to stay behind and continue the search for his grandson and daughter-in-law, and on Sunday he showed a photograph of Kristian to nurses during a visit to a hospital about 20 miles from Khao Lak.

The photograph of the boy was recognised by a doctor who told the pensioner that his grandson had been taken away by a westerner who claimed to be his guardian.

Speaking from his home in Stockholm last night, Dan Walker said: "At first, we thought my son Kristian was almost certainly dead and I returned home with my two surviving children, but then my father visited a hospital 30 kilometres away from the resort they were staying in and several staff reacted when they were shown the picture."

He went on: "They told him that Kristian was seen on the day of the disaster and the following day sitting on the outpatients’ bench being treated for scratches and bruises. He was seen on both days with a man. We are now convinced that this man has abducted my son and I have contacted the police in Stockholm who have already dispatched two detectives to investigate his potential kidnapping. It is our worst nightmare.

"On the one hand, I am immensely relieved that there is a glimmer of hope he survived, but we have no idea who he is with or whether he is in danger. Kristian’s mother is still missing."

In Phuket yesterday, Makmur Sunusi, an official in Thailand’s interior ministry, said he was uncertain as to the boy’s fate. He said: "We cannot say that it has happened, because at the moment it is a chaotic situation."

However, Kampongsree Somprutthar, the hospital doctor who recognised the photograph, said she was certain that the boy had been abducted.

She went on: "Kristian was here in the hospital - I have no doubt about that.

"He was taken away by a man a few days after the tsunami hit. I have described him to the police as ‘European-looking, with a moustache and a red shirt’."

The Swedish foreign ministry confirmed yesterday that four detectives from Stockholm had been sent out to Thailand to co-operate with local officials in the search for the schoolboy.

A spokesman said: "There are many issues and challenges facing the authorities in southern Thailand, and we felt our own police officers could assist them in the search for Kristian.

"His family are obviously deeply concerned about his safety, and the witness statements we have been made aware of to date certainly suggest Kristian is still alive. If he is, we will be doing everything we can to find him."

Details of Kristian’s apparent abduction came only 24 hours after the Swedish head of Save the Children warned that children who ended up alone after the natural disaster were potential targets for sexual abuse by paedophiles.

She said: "The experience from other catastrophes is that children are particularly vulnerable. There are already indications that surviving children had been sexually abused in Sri Lanka, one of the countries suffering worst from the tsunami.

"This is an area of the world where child trafficking is a major criminal enterprise and, with so many children isolated or detached from their families, it is obviously an area of serious concern, especially as a great deal of youngsters are presumed to be dead and [they are] therefore even more vulnerable to be trafficked to work in brothels or in factory sweatshops across Asia."

The Swedish authorities’ swift response to Kristian’s apparent kidnapping is in stark contrast to their initial reaction to the tragedy.

Laila Freivalds, the country’s foreign minister, is facing calls for his resignation after it emerged that he went off to the theatre on 27 December, just as the magnitude of the tsunami disaster was becoming apparent.

With 52 Swedes confirmed to have been killed in the disaster and about 800 others missing, Sweden has been traumatised over the past week. That shock is now turning to anger with the government.

Despite pleas from Swedish doctors in Thailand on 28 December to transport injured Swedes immediately to European hospitals for treatment, the first two air ambulances did not leave Stockholm until 30 December.

Analysts have warned that the country’s Social Democratic government could pay the price for its perceived slow response to the crisis when Swedes go to the polls in national elections next year.