Irishman in Phuket describes 'incredible plane of water'

Scenes of earth-shattering devastation and of lives swept away were witnessed by Irish holidaymakers staying at the Thai resort of Phuket yesterday.

Mr Bill Carthy from Sligo was having breakfast on the beach-front terrace of his hotel at Nai Harden, where he is staying with his wife, Marie, when the first of the tidal waves hit. "It was an incredible plane of water. It didn't even look like a wave because there were no breakers in it, the water just rose up about 15 metres, but it stayed flat on top. It just rose in and took the beach."

Mr Carthy ran from the outdoor restaurant, just steps from the beach, within minutes of the larger second and third waves. "Everything on the beach was just wiped out, but it looked so still and flat and there seemed to be no sound. I saw one man sitting on a deckchair and he was just swept away."

The water then came over the wall separating the beach from a promenade and then on to the road.

"The hotel is built on to a height, but the terrace restaurant was completely taken. The sea just pulled everything out, the windows in all the shops broke and there were people running, cut with glass."

A warning was issued that a fourth tidal wave was expected and the hotel guests were evacuated to the nearby hills. "We stayed up there until about 5.30 p.m., but the fourth wave never came and we were brought back down. The staff of the hotel were just phenomenal and brought up food, but it was so scary."