Newly-weds Jai and Rozza described the killer waves thundering towards the beach like a scene plucked out from a movie script.

Jai said, "How we survived was we ran towards the hill at the end of the tidal waves but you can imagine, you see foreigners, locals, running, literally running for their lives, packing whatever they can. It's a total nightmare just to see passports floating, cameras, everything just in the nick of time everything just went bleak."

Fearing for the worst and bracing for aftershocks, the couple decided to leave their dream holiday and headed for the airport.

Jai recounts, "We are not concerned where we go, to be honest. But I think right now, the friends we made and lost, its very very emotional. My aim is just to really calm my wife because amidst all these, she experienced some pain in her womb area so I'm fairly concerned about that."

"We couldn't sleep. To be honest we only had 1 hour sleep. Because we keep hearing waves, in our minds, we keep hearing the tidal waves and people screaming. It is just so unfortunate."