Phuket Disaster latest

Tourists tell of their tidal wave ordeal

PHUKET: Swedish tourist Kjell Sk=F6ld, of Gothenburg, has described how
the rising waters of the wave trapped him, his wife, Bibi, and their
young children in their bungalow at Andaman Bay Resort, at Bang Tao.

"The water went out then came back in very, very quickly, taking
everything with it," said Mr Sk=F6ld. "When the water came into the
bungalow, we put everything on the beds ... all the windows were
closed, so the water kept pushing everything up towards the roof.

"It pushed us up to the roof, then the roof came off and we floated
away."

After being washed down to land, Mr and Mrs Sk=F6ld managed to get their
seven-year-old daughter, Stephanie, to safety in a high cement
building, but then realized that their 10-year-old son, Sebastian, was
missing.

He was found a few minutes later, about 200 meters away, sitting in a
tree the flood had swept him to. "I can't put into words what it
feels like to be missing your son," said Mr Sk=F6ld.

He added that the family were four days into a three-week holiday.
"We were supposed to be going to Koh Lanta today, but we've lost
everything. This is all we have," said Mr Skoll holding up a 15-liter
backpack.

Marie Holmberg, her husband Henrik and her parents Denis and Gun
Larsson went to see the chaos caused by the the first wave to hit Karon
Beach ... and found themselves caught up in the second wave.

"We were standing there taking pictures and the wave started coming
back, faster and faster, so we started to run away, faster and faster,
but my parents didn't run fast enough," said Mrs Holmberg, from
Sweden.

The wave knocked Mr and Mrs Larsson over, and they were hit by rubbish
floating in the water, but they were well enough to make their own way
to Phuket International Hospital for Mr Larsson to be treated for a
badly damaged toe and other cuts and bruises.

A member of staff at Bangkok Phuket Hospital said that at least 50
victims of the wave were taken to the hospital within an hour and a
half of the wave hitting the island, but she said it was too early to
confirm the numbers of injured - or the number of dead.



PHUKET: An unconfirmed 22 people have died and more than 1,000 people
have sought refuge at the Phuket Provincial Office in Phuket City after
Phuket's coast was swamped by a tidal surge caused by an earthquake
off Sumatra this morning.

Waters off Phuket surged onto land, washing away homes on the east
coast and causing damage at resorts all along the west coast.

The Gazette has received an unconfirmed report that 22 people have
died, 19 of them were at Patong.

Patong resident and Gazette columnist Woody Leonard reported, "A
giant wave went up the beach, at least as far up as Beach Rd ... People
were running from the beach as fast as they could. The beach is
devastated ... There were a lot of people on the beach, [and they were]
swept away by the wave."

The waters reached as far inland as the Club Andaman Resort, some 150
meters inland.

The Gazette received a separate report that several people at Kalim, in
Thalang, were killed in the surge, though that report has yet to be
confirmed.

Kawee Sukunthamath, Chief of the Phuket Office of Disaster Prevention
and Mitigation (ODPM), has told the Gazette that homes along the east
and west coasts are being evacuated as a precaution in anticipation of
an aftershock expected to arrive at about 3 pm.

A warning has been issued on local radio stations asking people to stay
away from the beaches until further notice.

All flights inbound and outbound from Phuket International Airport have
been canceled until further notice, and the Sarasin and Tao
Thepkrasattri Bridges, the only roads on and off the island, have also
been closed as a precaution

Wachira Phuket Hospital has reported two dead, both Thai, and has
admitted 56 injured people, two of them foreigners.

At 11 am, Phuket International Hospital confirmed that at least 10
people had been admitted for serious injuries, and that many more were
expected to arrive.

At Bangkok Phuket Hospital, many other injured people had been
received, though a total could not be provided.

At Khao Khat, on the east coast, waters reached up to about 300 meters
inland, washing coastal homes and vehicles away. People were holding on
to whatever they could to stop from being swept away.

K=2E Kawee said that the tremors were also felt in Phang Nga, Ranong,
Krabi, Trang and Pattani. The Gazette has received a report that the
surge left a Royal Thai Navy ship at Tab Lamu naval base beached.