| FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS >>> |
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Even though the airport in Phuket was closed for a
few hours on Sunday (26 December), some tourists managed
to get flights out of the island.
They arrived last night at Changi Airport and many
recounted their harrowing experiences. Joanne Leow and
Serene Loo spoke to a few of them.
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Dins More and Family |
| For Mr Dins More's family, an idyllic family holiday
turned out to be a close brush with death when their beachside
hotel was devastated by 3-metre high tidal waves.
Mr Dins More said: "We were all having breakfast
on the beach and the water rolled out about 500 metres,
and then about 5 minutes later it came back in about
10 feet high and pushed through the hotel and caught
people in the wake and smashed boats into the hotel,
it was pretty terrible. Right on the beach, so everything
wasted, tore the hotel down to the cinderblocks."
The family scrambled to the hotel's roof for safety,
but not before they were caught unexpectedly by the
first waves.
Mrs Dins More said: "I was sleeping and they were
having breakfast, and my husband grabbed me from the
bed and the water was already coming in."
When the family sought medical help at a local hospital,
they said they saw many dead and injured.
Mr Dins More said: "We went to the hospital, it
was very bad, they were bringing lots of people in,
people laying on the floor, blood everywhere, it was
pretty awful."
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Other tourists gave their take |
| "It's quite amazing to see because it was a very
quiet day, very warm, beautiful day and the wave just
came out of no where. It was a big surprise to say the
least. A lot of people were on the beach and on boats
and on yachts and they were hit unexpectedly," said
one.
"We felt the earthquake at about 8 o'clock this
morning, and about half hour level and we went outside
and people were running. The whole swimming pool was
full and a few minutes later another wave came in and
everyone was screaming and running. Glass was broken,
windows were broken. a lot of the restaurants were destroyed,"
said another.
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