Two escape, many still waiting

Two New Zealand men have told of their miracle escapes in Phuket from the tidal waves that wreaked havoc across Asia.

But many more families and friends are still waiting with dwindling hope for news of loved ones.

Mark Smith, 28, and Jessie Lewis Evans, 23, were reunited hours after they had given each other up for dead.

But they are the lucky ones. Unconfirmed reports suggest a further three New Zealand casualties, and scores are still missing.

"Realistically I think we have to expect further fatalities," Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff said yesterday.

North Shore couple Belinda and Andrew Welch were on Phuket Island and have not been heard from since Christmas Eve. Belinda's father, John Croft, believes they are unlikely to be alive.

But New Zealanders are still being discovered.

The Bangkok-Phuket Hospital website said a new patient from New Zealand, Toni Osman, was admitted yesterday for treatment.

And some are refusing to give up hope. Sue Watt has not heard from her brother Timothy since he left for Bangkok on Christmas Eve.

The Auckland woman believed he had not been in contact because he "does not have the usual degree of fear".

Mr Smith and Mr Evans are being treated for tsunami-inflicted injuries at Bangkok's Rama 9 hospital.

Mr Smith, from Wellington, and Mr Evans, originally from Waikato, but now working in Wellington, were on a jetty on Phuket's Phi Phi Island, waiting for a boat to take them to the divers' paradise of Koh Lanta, when "the water disappeared".

"Suddenly, it was like the island was sinking, but some people started to laugh," said Mr Evans.

"The boat people knew what was happening and started running and screaming." The two men were picked up and tossed around by the rushing water.

Mr Evans said the water carried him into the town and into a house. Before the water reached the ceiling, he was thrust back into the street and dragged back out towards the sea.

"In the house, I really thought I was going to die, especially when I was being spun around underwater."

Mr Evans was saved by a hotel worker who dragged him and several others into a large hotel.

Meanwhile, the tsunami had dragged Mr Smith to the other side of the town, where he ended up trapped in a round concrete structure with several others.

"It was like being in a giant washing machine, with rocks and glass and sticks," he said.

"I tried to hold on to a concrete pole to stop myself being dragged around, and really mashed my arm.

"I got dragged under the water so many times that I really thought I was going to die - all the time being spun around, and hit by trash and sharp objects, so you didn't know what was up and down."

Eventually he was dragged into a building where he was bandaged and looked after by other tourists.

The two New Zealanders lost sight of each other for the best part of the afternoon, and both say they "had given each other up for dead".

But as Mr Evans was leaving the island on a rescue boat, he was staggered to see Mr Smith being helped down a flight of stairs.

They were eventually loaded on to a fishing boat later in the day and taken to Krabi hospital.

* Sam Mickell, who had been reported as missing, emailed the Herald website late last night to say "I'm alive". Mickell said he was about 100km away from the worst hit areas of Phuket when the tsunami hit. He said he was now on an island called Koh Phangan.

NEW ZEALAND ROLL CALL

Confirmed dead: Leone Cosens and one middle-aged man whose name has not yet been released

Named as being treated in hospitals:
Toni Osman, Emma Pini, Shaun Hickey, Vanessa Martin, Jessie Lewis Evans, Mark Smith, Shelley Pearce, James Fox, Coutney Evett.

Still unaccounted for according to search websites and emails to the Herald:
Susan Glasgow, Sarah Knight, William Johnstone, John Clyma, Hamish Stirrat, Bryce Eddy, David Patricia, Chantelle White, Mark Tonge, Matthew and Tina Williams, Raymond Allison, Steve, Billy Leggett, Hilary, Myra and Dielle D'Souza, Sriyal Mendis, Alex Hayns, Baydon Whitehouse, John Andrews, Nicola Strode, Fiona Sutherland, Carel Visser, Timothy Martin Watt, Noela Thompson, Antoinette Sweetman, Leonard Cousins, Belinda and Andrew Welch, Craig Baxter.

* Names were obtained from a variety of sources and not all spellings could be confirmed.

- NZPA, additional reporting Stuart Dye