NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Kiwi Anton Zanetich saved dozens

David Fisher
By David Fisher
Senior writer·
1 Jan, 2005 09:23 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

After a week of shock, trauma and now despair in one of the worst ever human tragedies, the front-line heroes are starting to emerge. Heroes like Kiwi Anton Zanetich.

The 46-year-old was one of the few that ran towards the waves as they unleashed their devastating fury on Thailand a
week ago. With little regard for his own safety, Mr Zanetich managed to pull dozens of helpless people to safety at Kamala Beach, the worst affected stretch of coast in Phuket.

It was the second wave that forced him to retreat to safety. Then, when he had done all he could for the living, and the waters had receded, he entered the ruins of the popular seaside resort to do what he could for the dead. Among them, a friend's three-month-old daughter.

Her body was found almost a kilometre from her beachfront home, cushioned among the carnage by the bodies of others. Her body was identified from photographs taken at Christmas dinner the night before, and she was cremated on Friday night.

"Nothing prepares you for this," said Mr Zanetich, a former Royal New Zealand Navy special operations diver who now lives in Singapore. Having recovered bodies while in the Navy, the former Wellington man became a deep sea diver, often working off the coast of West Africa.

"It was like someone dropped a bomb. We were running round trying to help people, dazed people everywhere stumbling around, and you just get in there and start dragging people out.

"You're speechless. If you can picture Hiroshima, that's what it was like. I know what the Japanese felt like," he said. "We were just pulling people out, trying to find survivors, getting the injured to hospitals and treating them."

Mr Zanetich thought he'd experienced a lot in his life. Now, his eyes fill with tears, his body shakes, when he recalls the awful experience of the past week.

On Boxing Day morning, he should have been on the beach, or in his favoured waterside breakfast cafe, but had a few drinks over Christmas dinner and didn't feel up to it. With friends, he drove into Kamala later than usual, missing the first tidal wave. The first sign of trouble was a stream of people running for safety, and a body washing across the road.

"Everyone was running and we started to pull people out," he said.

Standing among the ruins of the devastated town, he showed how the water had picked up bricks, planks, glass and roofing material.

"This was all debris and you had to fight through it. We were pulling people out of the debris," he said.

With a friend, Briton Phil Hoff, they moved off the road to collapsed homes, searching for survivors. "We came out looking like mud monsters."

Above them, on the hills surrounding the beaches, survivors gathered as the waters receded. Mr Zanetich and Mr Hoff and a handful of others worked on. Then another wave came, and the pair turned to run. A moped tearing past slowed next to Mr Hoff, who leapt on the back. As the wave gathered debris and headed inland, he turned back to Mr Zanetich, who shouted: "Go, just go."

A tide mark on a wall shows the water charged through beyond head height, and stayed long enough to leave its mark.

After the waters receded, it was back to the rescue for Mr Zanetich. The wounded were taken to the hills, and a small camp was set for the night.

"We were waiting for the cavalry," he said. But help didn't come for three days.

The next morning, Mr Zanetich went back to work. It was a recovery job - there were no more survivors to be found. But the smell of Kamala Beach tells him even now there are still bodies to be found.

"We gave up when the army turned up. We had had enough," he said.

"It certainly shakes your foundation, even of the strongest people. I've spent 30 years on the sea, since I was 16. I've seen the power and the fury but nothing compares to this. It's a lot to take in. The first couple of days you're just shaking.

"The first day, the first few hours ... I'll never forget it. It makes sleeping very hard."

- HERALD ON SUNDAY

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

Politics

Peeni Henare hits back at Te Pāti Māori 'greedy' byelection contest claim

New Zealand

'Every morning starts with grief': Father tortured by crash that killed wife and son

Auckland

‘Disheartening’: Vandalism acts costing ratepayers thousands


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.


Latest from New Zealand

Peeni Henare hits back at Te Pāti Māori 'greedy' byelection contest claim
Politics

Peeni Henare hits back at Te Pāti Māori 'greedy' byelection contest claim

Henare won't say yet whether he'll contest Tāmaki Makaurau in the 2026 general election.

15 Jul 12:55 AM
'Every morning starts with grief': Father tortured by crash that killed wife and son
New Zealand

'Every morning starts with grief': Father tortured by crash that killed wife and son

15 Jul 12:54 AM
‘Disheartening’: Vandalism acts costing ratepayers thousands
Auckland

‘Disheartening’: Vandalism acts costing ratepayers thousands

15 Jul 12:44 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search