Anxious families across the world are seeking news of their loved ones after a tsunami crashed into beaches and bars in some of Asia's most popular tourist resorts, killing more than 23,000 people and stranding many more.
While the vast majority of victims were locals from India,
Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and the Maldives, hundreds
were foreigners, enjoying Christmas in the sun at the busiest time
of the year for the region's tourist trade.
In Sri Lanka alone, the government said 200 foreign tourists were
feared dead. Nearly 1,000 people died in Thailand and an official
there estimated that between 20 and 30% of them were
holidaymakers.
"I honestly thought this is the worst way to die," said William
Robins, a professional golfer from California who was honeymooning
with his bride Amanda on Thailand's Phi Phi island.
"I thought I'm not meant to die like this," Robins, 26, said as he
lay in a hospital bed in the resort of Phuket, his collarbone
broken and most of his right ear torn off.
A day and a half after the tsunami struck, information on the fate
of tourists was still scarce as authorities struggled with a
disaster triggered by an awesome underwater tremor -- the world's
biggest earthquake in 40 years.
Sunbathers and babies were swept off beaches by walls of water up
to 10 metres high. Injured holidaymakers, many wearing only
swimsuits, were carried to rescue helicopters on stretchers.
"I was sitting on the first floor of a bar, not far from the beach,
watching cricket," said Australian tourist Stephen Dicks, 42, on
Phuket, which draws 3 million foreign visitors a year.
"And suddenly all these people came screaming from the beach. I
looked around and saw a massive wall of water rushing down the
street. It completely wiped out the ground floor of my bar. Thank
God I was upstairs."
Hotlines set up by foreign ministries and tour operators were
swamped by calls from worried relatives.
Those killed in Sri Lanka included four Germans, four Indians and
nine Japanese who were swept to their deaths as they watched
elephants in a park.
At least 11 Italians were killed -- nine in Thailand and two in Sri
Lanka.
Stockholm said at least 10 Swedes died and Oslo put its death toll
at 13 with 20-40 injured and several hundred yet to be located.
Washington said eight Americans were confirmed dead and hundreds
were missing.
France said the waves claimed three French victims, including a
four-year-old girl in Sri Lanka and an employee of the Club
Mediterranee resort village in Phuket.
However, Club Mediterranee said more than 1,000 tourists at three
of its resorts in the Maldives and Thailand were safe.
Thirteen Britons were killed -- most in Thailand, but also in the
Maldives and Sri Lanka.
"The first thing I heard was a loud noise," Brenda Castle, 61, who
was in a Sri Lankan hotel when the waves hit, said on arriving back
at London's Heathrow airport.
"I turned to look through the glass door and just saw a
massive amount of swirling muddy water heading for me," she told
reporters. "I thought I was going to die."
Briton Babette Morgan, 70, was lounging by a swimming pool with her
sister in Sri Lanka.
"I looked out across the sea and shouted 'tidal wave!'," she said
after being carried off her return flight to London on a wheelchair
after injuring her ankle in the chaos.
"We just ran for our lives."
British travel agents said charter flights that had been due to
carry holidaymakers to devastated areas would instead fly out empty
to evacuate survivors.
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