Roffey 'certain' of death in tidal wave

HEALTH minister Peter Roffey today spoke of the moments when he was certain of death after being swept away in the Asian tidal wave disaster. 'I was absolutely sure I was going to die,' a badly-injured Deputy Roffey said.

He was on a beach on the south coast of Sri Lanka eating breakfast with fellow deputy Jean Pritchard when the waves came and he was swept way.

'It was ridiculous. We were trying to save all our beach clothes because we didn't know what was coming and then suddenly the huge surge came. Tables and chairs were flying, our legs went and we were washed through the restaurant.'

Talking to the BBC, Deputy Roffey said he managed to push his fellow deputy into a concrete toilet block, which was one of the only buildings to remain standing,

But he was hit by a flying table and found himself tumbling through the jungle for about a quarter of a mile, banging into trees and buildings.

'I was being hit everywhere and, like everyone else has probably said, I was absolutely sure I was going to die. I kept going under this filthy water, this silt, and struggling to the surface again only to be hit by something else.

'It was probably only for a couple of minutes, but it felt like it was going for ever. I managed to hang on to a wooden ladder attached to a building for a while.'

Although the water was reaching the second storey of buildings, it did stabilise for a bit and Deputy Roffey was able to swim to a more substantial guest house.

He waited there for an hour or two suffering with some horrendous wounds, including a deep cut to his right shoulder, waiting for the water to go down.

When it went down to chest height he was helped to a guest house higher up a cliff where others had congregated and he was given some rudimentary medical treatment.

At this point he didn't know what had happened to Deputy Pritchard or her daughter, Azy, who was back in the guest house. It was only 12 hours later that he discovered they were alive and had been taken to higher ground

'It was horrible and of course we couldn't get out, all the roads were down. We couldn't walk anywhere and we had to spend the next 24 hours there.'

Deputy Roffey was yesterday airlifted to hospital in Galle by the Sri Lankan Air Force. His wound was by now badly infected.

He said that some of his cuts are do deep that they couldn't be stitched and he would need further treatment.

'The hospital there was overwhelmed, with bodies stacked up and horrendous wounds everywhere. It was real carnage and absolutely horrible.'

The low-lying area where Deputy Roffey was staying is now totally flattened. Coconut trees saved a lot of people, but all the buildings are devastated.

'There is so much rebuilding - God knows how they are going to manage.

'I am overwhelmed by the way the locals treated us, they are poor people but they all pulled

together, but now the realisation is coming in,' he said.

'We're in Colombo now and have been crying a great deal, I'm not ashamed to say that, it is something I never want to go through again.

He was flown to Colombo yesterday with another 35 people on a flight organised by the British High Commission, but a lot of people are still down in Galle.

The trio hope to get back to Guernsey in the next 24 to 36 hrs, and will take medical advice and speak to travel agents before travelling.

He has urged people to give any aid or money they can.

'They are going to struggle over the next few weeks as disease takes hold,' he said.

'The disaster is going to get worse in terms of human life. We're lucky now, we're up in Colombo.'

'I was anxious when I heard a report that he was suffering from internal injuries, but the message had come from the wrong person and it was corrected,' said Deputy Roffey's mother, Pam, who knows the area well.

'We are waiting now for him to get back. It was a great relief to hear that he had found Jean, although the details have been very brief. It has been a worrying time and we are so lucky that they are all alive.'

Advocate Mark Helyar and his family also had a lucky escape after sea surges hit the Maldives where they were diving.

He told the BBC that he was diving when there were suddenly very strong currents under the water and the visibility reduced dramatically.

As he walked up the beach the first wave came in, which washed under some of the bungalows on the beach of Filitheyo Island, followed by two or three more.

Advocate Andrew Laws, managing partner of Babbe Le Pelley Tostevin, where Advocate Helyar is also a partner, switched on the news in a hotel in Dublin where he was staying.

'It was a concern when we saw the news because I knew Mark was there on holiday.

'I know other people in the office had tried to contact him but could not because his mobile was dead, so I was very pleased to read in the Guernsey Press that he was okay. It sounds like he had a very lucky escape and now he is trying to get home, but it can't be that easy with two weeks'-worth of holidaymakers all trying to get back.'

A massive aid effort is now under way to help the millions of victims of the disaster. The UN is having to co-ordinate aid distribution to 10 nations at the same time time. Millions of people are homeless and the disaster zone is now threatened with an outbreak of disease.

Sri Lanka was one of the worst affected areas. Some 18,000 bodies have already been recovered.

Only 52 people have been reported as dead on the Maldives.