Devastation in Sri Lanka

Wednesday 5th January: Waves the size of a three-storey building hit a village called Maruthamunai in the Ampara District of Sri Lanka. It was a community of predominantly Muslim Sinhalese fishermen and textile weavers. Before the disaster, it had a population of 21,000; in one day, 2500 people were killed here.

Guilt

Survivors described how they desperately held on to their children when the big waves hit, but were unable to keep their grip in the force of the water. They were separated and their children washed away to their deaths.

They have an immense sense of guilt, their last memory of their children is being unable to hold to them. Many ask, "why did they die while we are still alive?"

Tragedies

There are have been many tragedies. A school teacher saw the waves coming and managed to get the whole class onto the roof of the school. They survived the first of the waves only to be swept away by the second. The teacher and all 40 children died.

The teacher's body was found holding on to two children he had tried to save, one under each arm. Many of the dead were discovered like this, one father was found with all six of his children holding on to him even in death.

Survivors

The most vulnerable when the waves hit were the elderly and young children who couldn't run away in time or hold on against the force of the water. The young and the strong had a better chance of survival.

There seemed to be very few children left amongst the village’s survivors. In refugee camps I have visited in the past, hordes of playful children would surround any visitors, but the few children I met here were quiet and withdrawn.

Volunteers

Over a week after the disaster, local volunteers are still trying to reclaim bodies from the wreckage. Some have travelled in all the way from the capital, Colombo.

Local organisations have organised themselves into teams, and I went out with one of them; we recovered three bodies - one of a nine-month-old baby.

Aid

From this single village, over 3,500 families have been displaced and are in urgent need of emergency assistance.

Survivors queue up calmly for the aid; people take what is given and walk away quietly. There isn't the clamour and chaos that often breaks out when people are forced to compete over aid. Here, the survivors of the disaster have a stunned quiescence about them.

There are hundreds of widows who, under Islamic tradition seclude themselves from the outside world during their period of mourning. Unlike the other homeless inhabitants of the area, they are unwilling to travel out of their seclusion to find food for themselves. Islamic Relief is, instead, delivering it to them.

Displaced

IR has began distributions in Sri Lanka's Ampara district where 38,624 families have been affected by the disaster. Around 1000 families will receive non-food items in the next few days, including clothes, cooking utensils, mosquito nets and hygiene kits.

Around 200,000 people are living in makeshift camps, where they are vulnerable to malaria and other diseases. Children and the elderly are the most vulnerable.