Sri Lanka Boxing Day Tsunami 2004

In the fourth part of our series on the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, in 2004, we will show the story of Sri Lanka, which was the second most affected country. In the video, you will again find map materials and examples of individual sites with an explanation of what happened there at the time. The video is educational and therefore you will not find explicit shots of destruction in it, most of the shots are illustrative. Thanks for watching, like and subscribing to the channel.

[devinchandula]

My elder sister was in this train with 3 of her college friends. After seeing what happenes live on tv in Galle we tried to reach them via phones. But all connections were cut out. She called us earlier that morning moments before the train leaves the Fort Railway station to Galle. And that was the last time we heard her voice. We could recover only one of her friend's body under a fallen tree about 400ft off the track. My sister and other two were never found. Almost 20 years without her and it still haunts me to imagine her last moments.

[withrespectmostly]

I met a guy who lost many family members to this, met him in australia, he was learning to cook and was the nicest young man. Thashara, if you read this, its Sue and Will xxx i think of you often and your family 🌹

[ashi]

Thanks for this. When this happened, I was a little girl of 9 years. Some of my relatives were killed by this disaster. They lived in Matara, Southern Province, Sri Lanka. Still very sad. 😔

[aespakarinaisakillervisual]

I was a victim of this tsunami..I made it but my three cousins couldn't. Still remeber this as yesterday .

[dorjon]

Spent four months in Sri Lanka, truly the Jewel in the Indian Ocean, in 1982.
Returned with my wife in February 2024. We toured by bus.
We stopped to view the Memorial at Peraliya and it’s guardian street dog.
Utterly heartbreaking, the losses, particularly in that world’s worst ever train disaster💔.
We passed destroyed houses, still just bare shells some twenty years later as no family member survived to deal with the aftermath.
Sri Lank’s pain received very little attention in the news media here in the UK.
Concentrating their attention elsewhere.
So sorry😢

[nonniewatson]

Watching this broke my heart to imagine the fear of the parents for their children and children for their parents... It sure does not seem like 18 years... Such a tragedy... Thank you for this video

[LankanNomad]

I still remember the day! There was an international cricket match between Sri Lanka and some other country. I was watching the match when the breaking news appeared on the TV. I remember at first I thought it was just a small wave as most Sri Lankans including me had never heard about tsunami. After we got to know the things happened the entire nation was in a cry😢😢. Still I can't think about the feeling.😢😢
I wish the world will never face something devastating like that!!

May all the souls passed away attain the supreme bliss of Nirvana!!

[dobazajr]

I've been reading and watching about 2004 tsunami but never heard of Colombo Train tragedy until I watched this clip. My God! Poor-poor souls. May they all rest in paradise!

[kirkpeterson]

I was in Unawatuna eating breakfast at the beach on the morning of December 26, 2004. I was washed away in the tsunami and was very lucky to have survived. I will never forget the Asian Tsunami or the wonderful people of Sri Lanka who assisted me.

[harsha]

The Lady who's narrating deserves a raise for sure. The way she's explaining in detail was way too good.

[vernaderiggs]

That's one thing my parents always talked about, if you ever saw the ocean receding run and run fast as you can and head for the hills

[username-iinz]

I went to the Tsunami Museum in Hikkaduwa last year and it was heartbreaking. I feel for all the families who lost loved ones.

[tm_]

Thank you a lot, Top of Topics
I've been watching news and videos since that day, but I've never found such clear information and recostruction of events, also regarding the famous footage that we've always seen.

It's really a great contribution from yours, important to realize better what happened and to prevent in case of future events

Really, really thanks 🙏
from Italy 🇮🇹

[saiii]

I was studying in twelfth grade those days. We were celebrating Christmas last night .I'm shocked to see the morning paper. I live in Kerala. It is about 100 km from Kanyakumari, but the tsunami reached Kerala as well. Tributes to all who died in the tsunami, unforgettable😯.&it's a Good video

[stevenartmann]

We visited Sri Lanka in 2017, we stayed in a resort in Bentota where many died, in Galle there were buildings that still had feint water marks on the outside showing how high it got, scary stuff!

[knighthauler]

I was on the Island of Sumatra in July 2005 on a reconstruction mission. I can attest to the height of the waves about an hrs drive south of Bandeh Aceh being about 40 ft tall. One of the members got a photo of a mattress in the top of a palm tree. Religion and politics will prevent improvements to prevent this from happening again. Case in point, most roads run parallel with the coast. The main coast road sank over 6 ft. I have pics from the helicopter showing palm trees in several feet of ocean water several feet from the shore and the road was seaward of that. The secondary road was washed out in several areas and there are few roads running into the mountains because there is nowhere for them to go.
They use barb wire for reinforcing concrete walls instead of re bar which sits rusting in a pile on the ground.
They refuse to use wood for construction even though sat that time there was lots of it available.
All this van be backed up by 187 pics and 45 minutes of vid.
They will never learn.
I was in a village called Pangha.

[yvonnefernando]

Thanks a lot for the descriptive way of explaining the deadliest Tsunami .Its like yesterday.The darkest memories brings the unbeatable pain.

[morningsminion]

Love this narrator's voice. Refreshing to hear a woman tell the tale. The number of people killed by these tsunamis is horrible enough, but even more awful is the way most of them died, being crushed and violently pummeled by heavy debris which essentially beat them to death as they were also drowning. I can only try to imagine the terror and pain experienced by the victims.

[anniebieber]

Amazing video & Narration told with the facts AND Compassion but without hyperbole & unnecessary dramatics. The World will NEVER forget the tragic event that educated it on the Danger, Warning Signs and Absolute Devastation Tsunamis can bring. 💛✌

[spiderNet]

I am Indian from Pondicherry I Lost my two friends 😭😭😭😭