Returning Britons tell of panic

By Lucy Wilkins
BBC News at Heathrow Airport

Britons returning from holidays in south and east Asia have told of the panic after the sea surges which killed 23,000 people struck their resorts.

Thousands of UK tourists were in the region, and 13 Britons have been confirmed dead.

Two flights returned to Heathrow on Monday evening - one carrying people from Sri Lanka, and the other from Thailand.

The Joyce family hung onto door frames to save themselves

There were emotional reunions at the airport, with lots of crying and hugging as the tourists were met by friends and family.

Jackie Beale, 56, from Godalming in Surrey, had been staying in southern Sri Lanka with her husband David, 57.

"I thought we were all going to die," Mrs Beale said.

She said the water rose to within an inch of their hotel room ceiling, and they would have drowned if it had come an inch higher. They swam out to escape.

She said: "We were just swimming with all the furniture... it was absolutely horrendous.

"Everything is gone. Our passports are somewhere in the Indian Ocean.

"We hung on to a palm tree - David was naked, and I was wearing a nightie."

The couple had clothes in Colombo, where Mr Beale works as an engineer, and were able to change for the flight back to the UK.

'Screaming'

Belinda Coote, 58, from Kensington, west London, had also been staying in a resort on the southern tip of Sri Lanka when the waves struck.

I thought we were all going to die Returning tourist Jackie Beale

"If it had been during the night we would have been killed," she said.

"We suddenly saw the sea rising up. Initially it looked quite interesting, then it crashed through the windows."

The sea "rose up and just crashed over everything, making an incredible roaring noise", she said.

"Everyone was screaming."

She added: "One of the villagers had died and there was a lot of wailing. It was so sad."

Ms Coote said her room had been devastated by the surge. She lost three suitcases, but after returning to the room against advice managed to find a small bag which contained her house keys.

Lloyd Dennison, 25, from Slough in Berkshire, was asleep with his girlfriend in Patong Beach in Phuket, Thailand, when they were awoken by people screaming.

"We panicked. We thought we were going to die," he said.

If it had been during the night we would have been killed Returning tourist Belinda Coote

He was staying on the third floor of a bed and breakfast - the first floor was "just wiped out", he said.

They left all belongings in the room and managed to get on to the tiled roof of the B&B where there were other people. They were eventually rescued by an army truck.

Mr Dennison said he had been ill with a sore throat when the water hit - otherwise, at that time of day, they would have been on the beach and almost certainly killed.

"There were people floating and cars floating down the streets. Jet skis and boats ended up down the alleyways."

Mick Byrne, 42, from Brighton, had also been staying at Patong Beach, with his wife and daughter.

He described seeing a lot of bodies in and around the shops.

He said they were on a slight cliff above the beach. They saw it coming and "immediately thought 'run'".

"We missed the wave by about 30 seconds. The kitchens went, some people pulled out people from the water and got them into the lobby."

'Window broke'

Nigel Joyce, from Harpenden in Herts, had been holidaying in Thailand with his wife Marie and 18-year-old daughter Hannah.

"We saw the water rising up outside the patio window, but then the window broke and the water flooded in, but then it receded and it was like a vacuum."

We hung on to the bathroom door frames to stop being sucked out. My daughter said 'we're going to die, dad' Returning tourist Nigel Joyce

He said it was a matter of seconds between the water coming and receding.

"We hung on to the bathroom door frames to stop being sucked out. My daughter said 'we're going to die, dad'."

On his luggage trolley the bags had seawater stains. He was not even sure if all the stuff he had grabbed was his.