I've lost 100 loved ones

A London businessman has lost his wife and 100 members of his family in the tsunami disaster.

His 15-year-old son Thanis was the only member of the family to survive, escaping 50ft surging waves by clinging to a tree.

Mr Ponniah, 38, who moved to London three years ago, said: "I have lost almost 100 aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. My village was directly in the path of the tsunami and was razed to the ground." The family had been awaiting visas allowing them to move to Britain. The village, made up of primitive shacks 50 yards from the sea, is thought to have been one of the worst hit in Sri Lanka.

So far 3,000 bodies have been found and 2,500 from the population of 17,000 are missing.

Thanis was barely able to speak about the loss of his mother Nagalauxmy, 32, sisters Yasintha, 13, and Yasotha, 11, aunt Manchu and uncle Jaya. He told his father the news in a call from his hospital bed. With no surviving relatives able to care for him, he is now being looked after by an aid group until a relative can travel there.

Mr Ponniah is being comforted at the family home in Elephant and Castle by his brother Khangarajah, 45, and sister-in-law Muthulauxmy, 41.

Describing the call from Thanis-Khangarajah said: "My brother passed the phone to me because Thanis could not find the words to talk to him. When he recognised his father's voice he cried and cried.

"He managed to tell me he'd seen his mother and sisters die. He said they were having breakfast when they heard a huge bang, but they thought it was some kind of military attack. In Sri Lanka we are used to that. They lay on the floor in their house to take cover when they should have been running for their lives.

"The water burst through the doors and walls. As they were swept away, Thanis was able to climb up a tree. It is a miracle he escaped."

Khangarajah added: "We have lost cousins, friends and in-laws and our grief is indescribable. But our worry is now for the survivors who face the threat of disease and famine."