'We all thought we were going to die'

They saw sights they will never forget: walls of water, small children washed away, bodies lying everywhere. But they escaped unscathed, and as they returned home today, the British survivors of the tsunami told how they lived - and others died.

David Sequeira, a 23-year-old student from High Wycombe, scrambled to safety with girlfriend Elizabeth Newington, 20, of Brighton, while on the Island of Phi Phi.

He said: "We were in our beach hut and we did not know what was going on by the time the wave had already hit. People were saying another wave was coming and we had to get out."

The couple were taken to higher ground. "There were hundreds of us up there. People were in shock. We didn't have a clue that it was an earthquake, everyone was so confused.

"By 4pm we had run out of food and water but we were told to stay there because we thought another wave may

hit the island." Rob Wesson, 18, of Tunbridge Wells, was spending a gap year working in Phuket and lived in an apartment in Patong.

"I looked out of the window of my apartment and I could see the wave coming and thousands of people running away.

"It totally destroyed the town. I've lost Thai friends and a teacher friend of mine has lost his wife. Other friends of his have lost their 15-month-old baby."

Gavin Anderson, 41, a software engineer, and fiancé¥ Jo Coleman, 31, told how they were chased uphill by the first of three huge waves which struck Thailand after watching the sea being sucked away.

The couple, f rom Oxford, were on holiday at a beach hotel in Khao Lak, 40 miles north of the island of Phuket. Mr Anderson said: "We were lying on the beach, having just walked down from the hotel after breakfast. All of a sudden the tide went right out and the water was sucked out to sea. It was really strange and people started taking pictures.

"Then we saw the water rising like a wall out to sea. The locals knew something was wrong and started shouting, 'move, move'. It wasn't until we saw the wave coming in that we realised it was serious. People started panicking and shouting to run up the hill next to the beach.

"Everyone was running up the hill, and we were dodging between banana trees as the water hit the beach. We managed to get to the hotel, and the water engulfed the land around

it. There was a building site next to our hotel which seemed to act as a channel for the water. There were loud bangs as the debris was washed along - everything from cars to beach beds.

"We camped on the top of the hill with the hotel staff, who were fantastic. We went to Phuket the next day and stayed in a school until we could get a flight home. The locals were amazing. They cooked for everyone, gave us water and even gave Jo a pair of shoes because she had lost hers."

Judith Henry, 61, a teacher from Clacton was holidaying in Krabi on the Thai coast with her retired husband, Jim, 64. They were in their hotel.

She said: "We could hear people walking along the side of the building and we asked what was going on. They said a big wave was coming and we had to leave.

"We were taken into the hills until it was safe to come down.

"The place was completely devastated. We saw one man who had lost his wife and child and he was so worried. We saw him the following day and he said he had found them safe." David Marriott, 23, a student from Skegness, was visiting Phuket as part of a three-month backpacking tour with fellow student Sarah Twiby, 22, of Doncaster. He said: "We felt this rocking. All the pictures were shaking. We went downstairs and everybody had disappeared.

"All the hotel staff had abandoned us and I had no idea what to do. So we had to run to get to the mountains to be safe. We realised the magnitude of it when the first wave hit.

"People said there were bodies all over the streets. Phuket was like a ghost town and completely devastated. Everybody was trying to leave. Phuket was my favourite island, but now I never want to go back there."

Miss Twiby said: "I was asleep when I felt the earthquake. We went down to ask the staff what had happened and they said everything was fine. But then I saw them all leave on motorbikes - they just left us to it.

"All the people staying at the guesthouse left and we all went to higher ground.

"When I went back down I saw a Muslim cemetery completely flooded. There were upturned cars and boats floating through it, wrecking the graves."

Simon Vine, 31, an IT salesman of Oxford, was enjoying a Christmas break in Phuket when the tsunami hit the hotel complex. He said: "I had just got up when I heard the screams, but I couldn't see anything and then water was gushing past my legs. Everyone was screaming and the water was getting waisthigh. All the windows began to smash. Everyone thought they were going to die.

"I managed to get out of my room and outside. Everyone was helping others up on to the roof to be safe. There was about 50 or 60 up there.

"One of our friends is still in hospital after he smashed his television through his bedroom window to get out."