| FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS >>> |
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In the aftermath of the tsunami, many returned home
on Monday (27 December) with scarred memories and other
more tangible reminders of the horrific encounter.
Our reporter Wong Siew Ying met up with some who tild
her of their encounter.
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Kent Carter & Family who were at Karon Beach,
Phuket
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| Mr Kent Carter, 46, and his son Aaron, 11, were out
on Karon beach in Phuket and making their way back when
the waves sent them crashing into the hotel.
Mr Carter recounts, "I was heading for the concrete
wall very fast, and I thought we were going to hit the
wall. Then all of a sudden, we got diverted into this
side small room, like a big closet.
"It's just us with other people, it was all pitch
dark, the power had gone out, you can't see anything,
I lost hold of my son, and there was all kinds of tables,
chairs and sharp things in there, all crashing around.
I just held a table over my head and then I heard his
voice and I got him."
Aaron sustained cuts and knocks, but his father needed
60 staples to close a gaping wound in his leg.
"It's actually cut right into the bone, and I
didn't feel a thing. I was half way up the stairs and
I looked and I saw the leg hanging open, and he started
screaming and there was blood everywhere."
The family of five then drove to the hospital where
Mr Carter received treatment.
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Sudeshna Ghosh |
| Ms Sudeshna Ghosh said: "One lady she was quite
aged, she was trying to stand up and she fell down, some
people from the hotel went to pick her up, her leg was
completely hollow, one side was there and other side completely
hollow, after some time, she died in front of our eyes."
The family ran up to the second floor of their hotel,
Hiton Leelavadee, to escape the flood.
They later paid 1,000 baht for a three-wheeler (tuk-tuk)
trip to the airport where they spent the night.
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Sarah and Oliver Yates |
| Ms Sarah Yeats and Mr Oliver Yates said: "We wanted
to help, but we didn't know what to do, there were so
many injured people walking around with massive cuts on
their legs, backs, from glass or being pushed into things."
The couple, who stayed at a hotel further up hill,
managed to take pictures of the carnage, five minutes
after the tsunami struck.
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Jumini Jumar |
| Ms Jumini Jumar said: "It was not easy task, because
we were not sure what we were stepping on. We could see
jet ski, cars turned upside down, even mannequins from
the tailor shops along the seaside, it just got washed
away to where we were staying." |
Owner of a bungee business in Phuket, Glenn Bignoll
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| Glenn Bignoll said: "The beach side is devastated,
but up in the hillside, it is okay...I have just talked
to some friends and they said they have opened the backstreets
of Patong, so I think it should be okay." |
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