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You are > Home > Waterford tourists are safe after tidal wave horror
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Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Waterford tourists are safe after tidal wave horror
By Marion O’Mara and Aileen Mulhall
JET skis swept off the beach and carried 150 metres along the road to a hotel lobby, jeeps and cars bobbing in swimming pools are among the graphic images of a Christmas holiday that three Waterford men are unlikely ever to forget.
P.J. Kinsella, from Dunmore East; Richard Upton, from Passage East, and Nicholas Halley, from Kilbarry, are now thankfully safe in Bangkok after being evacuated from the Patong Beach area of Phuket in Thailand, devastated by giant tidal waves that struck nine countries across the Bay of Bengal in Southern Asia.
As the Waterford News & Star went to press last night, latest reports from the region estimated that up to 55,000 people died in the disaster caused by Sunday’s underwater earthquake, which measured nine on the Richter Scale.
To date, ten Irish people are reported to have been injured in the disaster, but the Department of Foreign Affairs was unable to state whether any of them were from Waterford.
Among the top Irish diplomats helping Waterford and other Irish people affected by the disaster is Waterford-city born Donal Mulhall, who is Ambassador to Malaysia and Thailand. He has also been working to establish the whereabouts of any missing Irish holiday makers and residents in the region.
Meanwhile, P.J. Kinsella recounted to the Waterford News & Star the terrifying scenes he witnessed from his hotel just 150m from Patong Beach on Sunday morning.
He said he was standing on the fifth floor balcony of the holiday hotel when the Tsunami hit at 9.55 a.m.
“In the space of three to four minutes at least a thousand people ran up the road past the hotel and then the tide, which was between six and eight feet deep came flooding past,” he said.
P.J. said at first he and his travelling companions didn’t realise the seriousness of what was happening.
Within an hour or two, the floodwater had receded and all that remained was a couple of feet of sand and silt.
“The ground floor of the hotel, including the restaurant, was destroyed. We had no electricity and no water and we were told to stay in our rooms,” he added.
Within hours, however the enormity of the tragedy became apparent and the death tool began to mount.
P.J. spoke of how numerous people lost their lives.
Homes and shops were demolished, cars and jeeps were tossed around like pieces of paper and jet skis ended up in the hotel lobby.
P.J., Richard and Nicholas flew to Bangkok yesterday (Tuesday) and they will remain there until the weekend.
They then plan to travel on to Singapore where they will spend a further three days before returning back home on January 5.
As the trio left the Patong beach area, Richard Upton said cars were still piled four and five high on the roads and the area was still without power.
Another Waterford woman, Mary Doherty was in Sri Lanka when the tragedy struck. Mary who is also safe and well spoke to the Waterford News & Star but declined to comment for the record on her experience.
Her only concern was for the estimated 13,000 people who lost their lives in Sri Lanka.
After the Tsunamis struck on Sunday, Irish Ambassador to Malaysia and Thailand Donal Mulhall from Waterford’s Lower Yellow Road flew from his base at the Irish Embassy in Kuala Lumpar in Malaysia to Phuket in Thailand and set up a centre of operations in Phuket City Hall to help Irish people affected by the natural disaster.
He has been liasing with other consular missions in Southern Asia to try and establish how many Irish people are missing or injured as well as helping other Irish citizens stranded or injured in the region.
Two Irishwomen holidaying in southern Thailand were yesterday (Tuesday) reported among the missing, though attempts to track down holidaymakers in the region are being hampered by telecommunications breakdowns in many of the affected areas.
Mr Mulhall was appointed Ireland’s Ambassador to Malaysia with responsibilities for Ireland’s interests in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos in 2001 after serving as the first ever Irish Consul General to Scotland.
He is son of Tom and Alice Mulhall and has three brothers and two sisters, Maria, Anthony, Brendan, Kieran and Louise, who all live in Waterford.
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