The Asian tsunami tragedy is feared to have claimed at least 50 British lives, with many more still unaccounted for. Back home, scores of families face an anxious wait for news of loved ones missing after the Boxing Day disaster. Here is a list of some of the dead and missing Britons:
Julian Ayer, son of the late philosopher Freddie Ayer, was among those who died in Sri Lanka. He had been travelling with wife Harriet Crawley, 56, to see her son Spencer, 17, play cricket in Galle on a Harrow School tour. Mrs Crawley, also of London and a former Conservative parliamentary candidate, was seriously injured. She is the daughter of the late Aidan Crawley, a former Tory MP and chairman of LWT.
Peter Weston, a 47-year-old father-of-two, died when the tsunami wave struck the Maldives islands where he was holidaying with his family, it emerged today.
Mr Weston, a mobile phone executive, was staying with his wife Jackie, 45, and daughters Katie, 11, and Victoria, 14, at the White Sands Resort on the Ari Atoll Island when they were caught up in the Asian disaster.
Mrs Weston today described how the family had been standing outside their hotel’s reception at one end of the island when she had heard the sound of dozens of children screaming. When she turned around she saw a huge surge of water coming straight towards them, she said. "People didn’t know where to go or what to do," she said. "It was sudden and chaotic. In the chaos Pete got separated from us. "We are all absolutely devastated. He was a fantastic father and husband. We just can’t put into words how we feel."
Newcastle-born grandfather Brian Clayton, 58, who was living in Brisbane, Australia, died attempting to help children escape the waves in Phuket, Thailand.
A father who flew to Thailand in search of his missing son has discovered his body, friends confirmed today. James Hurren, 22, of Caister, Norfolk, was last seen on the Thai island of Phi Phi, near Phuket, where he had been travelling with friends. He had not been seen since the devastating tidal wave struck the area on Boxing Day. After three agonising days of waiting to hear news of his son, Mr Hurren’s father, Dale Hurren, 46, of Manor Road, Caister, Norfolk, yesterday travelled to Thailand to help look for him. Friends at Mr Hurren’s house confirmed that he had identified the body of his son. Mr Hurren, a talented footballer, had given up his job as an assistant bank manager to go backpacking for a year and had travelled to Thailand with his friend, Bin Tyler, 25, on December 10. The pair had been out drinking with different friends on the evening of Christmas Day.
John Hofton, 62, and wife Annie, 57, of Worcester, are also believed to have died on Khao Lak, in Thailand. Clare Jackson, of Bristol, is feared dead after the torrent pulled her away from boyfriend Alex Hill, 24, in Tangarra, Sri Lanka.
Among those missing, presumed dead, are the parents of two Cornish brothers who were caught in the devastation in Phuket. Louis Barratt Mullan, 16, and 12-year-old brother Theo have pinned up notes pleading for news of parents Catherine Mullan, 53, and Leonard Barratt, 49. Relatives are flying out to collect the boys, but it is feared that their mother and father were swept out to sea.
Actor and film director Lord Attenborough’s 14-year-old granddaughter Lucy was killed in Phuket, Thailand, while on holiday with her mother Jane and other family members. Jane, who is Lord Attenborough’s elder daughter, is still missing along with her mother-in-law, Jane Holland.
Six-year-old Taylor Howard was killed in the Thai resort of Khao-Lak Phang Nga on Sunday.
He was on holiday with his brother Mason, eight, his mother Sharon Howard, 37, and her boyfriend David Page, 44. Mr Page, of Graffham, West Sussex, and Mason are missing, feared dead. Ms Howard, from Hayle in Cornwall, suffered head injuries.
Louise Willgrass, 43, from Colney, near Norwich, was killed as she holidayed in Thailand with husband Nigel and their four children. Mrs Willgrass was swept away after visiting a supermarket in Phuket to buy suncream. Her mother-in-law Brenda Willgrass, 73, said Louise, Nigel, 43, and the children were on their way to the beach when the tidal wave hit.
Conservationist Lisa Jones is feared to have died on the tiny Thai island of Koh Phra Thong when the giant tsunami hit. The 31-year-old’s brother Chris Jones, from Windsor, Berkshire, paid tribute to his "beautiful sister" on the BBC website. Miss Jones had been doing conservation work at the Golden Buddha beach resort on Koh Phra Thong for the Naucrates organisation, which protects sea turtles.
Fashion photographer Simon Atlee is missing after being swept away while on holiday with his supermodel girlfriend in Thailand. The 33-year-old from London and his partner Petra Nemcova, 25, were staying in a beachfront bungalow in the Thai resort of Ko Lak when they were swept into a sea of debris. Miss Nemcova, who lives in London and New York, suffered a broken pelvis and internal injuries.
Honeymooners Natalie and Andrew McLeish are missing on Thailand’s Phi Phi island. The couple, from Sheffield, phoned home on Christmas Day but have not been heard from since. Andrew, 31, who has his own design business, and food technologist Natalie, 28, married in May after a ten-year courtship but waited until now for a honeymoon.
Piers Simon, 33, is missing after he was swept out to sea when a wave hit the cafe he was in on the Thai island of Phi Phi. The garden designer, from Chilthorne Domer, Yeovil, Somerset, helped friends on to the cafe roof before being washed away. His brother Luke, 30, who teaches English in Chiang Mai, is now co-ordinating a search and rescue operation for him from Phuket.
City broker Lincoln Abraham, is missing on Phi Phi. The 34-year-old from Hampstead, north London, was on holiday with friends who survived the disaster.
Agencies have reported a statement from the Hong Kong government saying that a Briton with Hong Kong ties was killed by the tidal waves that swept Thailand. The statement identified the Briton only as Mr Leung, 39, while the Ming Pao Daily News reported his full name as Steven Leung Sai-wai.
Amanda Britton, 40, her brother Adrian Lester, 41, and their father Keith Lester, 70, are all feared dead. None has been seen since the sea swept through their beachside hut on the Thai island of Phi Phi. Three other members of the family - Clare Lester, who lives in Thailand, Amanda's brother James and mother Barbara - were rescued. They are being treated in hospital after surgery.
Sarah Bent, 19, of York, and boyfriend Robert Rowbottom - who were also on Phi Phi - are unaccounted for. Sarah's father Paul said: 'They are not on the rescued list, or the injured and dead list. We're desperate to know what has happened.
Leanne Cox, 23, a backpaker from Hartlepool, is also missing. Her father Alan said she was last spotted running away from the wall of water as it ploughed through Phi Phi.
Craig Stanley, 30, landscape gardener who was on holiday with his girlfriend Barbara McTaggart has not been heard from since he phoned home to Newstead Village, Nottingham, on Christmas Day to wish his father a happy birthday.
A sales executive, Stuart Shields, 37, of Ridgewell, Essex, is believed to have been swept away while holidaying in the Maldives with wife Tania, 35. He was swimming in the Indian Ocean with Tania when the killer wave struck.
Other Britons posted missing include: Luke Puddy and Alice Claypoole, both 31, who were staying at Khao Lak; Sean Sweetman, 31, and his Irish girlfriend Lucy Coyle, 28, and the Ulster historian Alex Blair, from County Antrim, who was holidaying in Sri Lanka. Tourists returning from Sri Lanka said the number of foreigners killed is higher than estimated.
- Honeymooners Christopher and Gaynor Mullen who were feared dead have managed to contact relatives back in the UK to say that they have escaped unscathed.
