Tsunami stories: Girl almost too small to be seen by rescuers

An 11-year-old girl has told how she survived more than 24 hours in the surging sea after the tsunami struck.

Sylvia Lucas, from Sri Lanka, was playing on the beach in the village of Pasikudha, on the island's east coast, when she was swept away by the wave.

Clinging to a log, she cried out for hours to the rescue helicopters that were flying above. She saw others on either side of her rescued from the water but her size meant it was difficult for the pilots to spot her. Meanwhile, she saw what she described as "large fish" circling beneath her.

After frantic waving, she was eventually spotted by a helicopter, which airlifted her to safety. Shrugging off the ordeal, she said: "I was confident I would be saved. I am always playing on the beach and in the water, so staying in the sea didn't really scare me." Her parents also survived, and are in an emergency shelter. Her brother was killed by the wave.

Trapped for a week

An Indonesian fisherman was found after being trapped under his boat for a week without food or water.

Tengku Sofyan, 24, was taken to a hospital in Banda Aceh. He could barely speak, was severely dehydrated and had cuts on his body, doctors said.

"He's in extremely fragile condition, especially mentally," said Dr Irwan Azwar, who treated the man.

Witnesses said Sofyan was at sea when the tsunami hit. His boat was tossed on to the beach at Lampulo, trapping him underneath.

Man surfed wave to survive

A veteran surfer was forced to ride a tsunami to save his life as it engulfed a Sri Lankan village.

Martin Hambrook, 40, from Porthcawl, South Wales, was in the sea off the island's southern coast.

Partner Vicky Maxwell, 42, and son Jai, 7, were watching from the beach as the horrific tsunami appeared on the horizon.

The family of three fly to Sri Lanka every year and were staying at the Hansa Surf Lodge, in Hikkaduwa, when the giant wave hit on Boxing Day.

His partner and son fled to their nearby hotel balcony and watched as the wave scooped up Hambrook.

"When I saw the wave come I realised something was wrong, but I couldn't escape because the surfboard was tied to my ankle," he said.

Hambrook was carried over the sandy beach right up to the hotel.

He leapt off in the restaurant as the sea withdrew and a second wave, about 10m high, rolled in. The family then fled to higher ground.

No living relatives

With no family left in the world to care for them, two Thai orphans held each other for comfort.

Bua Changthongkam, 15, and Jack, 2 - whose second name is unknown - are the only children on Phuket to have no known surviving relatives.

They now share a room at the Temporary Home for Troubled Children and Families, on the outskirts of Phuket.

"I have cried for so many days," said Bua. "I want to cry now, but I have no more tears."

Bua was on a beachfront north of Patong, when the tsunami hit.

A 17-year-old boy, nicknamed Golf, saved her life by tying her to a flagpole, but was battered to death by debris himself.

Jack was given to a minder by his mother on Christmas Eve. Neither his mother nor the minder has been found.

Miracle survival

A pregnant Indonesian mother of four has thanked a "miracle" for saving her life in the chaos of the tsunami.

Trapped with one of her sons in a mosque in Banda Aceh, Haiwati, 38, felt she was at the point of death when a large can washed through a window.

She got on top of the can to get above the water, saving herself, her son and her unborn child.

"I had no energy left. I just looked at it. Then I held on to it, with my son," she said. "I guess yes, that was a miracle."

All her immediate family survived.