CHASED BY WHITE WALLS OF TERROR; Brit couple tell of tsunami escape.Byline: MARTIN FRICKER; COREY BURROWS A BRITISH couple yesterday told how they cheated death in the Pacific tsunami horror. Anna and Christopher Griffiths woke in their beach hut A beach hut is a small, usually wooden, building above the high tide mark on popular bathing beaches. Beach huts are used for changing into and out of swimming costumes and to provide a base for informal family recreation. to see two "giant white walls" of water hurtling towards them. The couple, originally from Pembrokeshire, West Wales West Wales is the western area of Wales bordered by South Wales to the east. The area is loosely-defined, but is generally considered to include Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, southern areas of Ceredigion, and sometimes the city of Swansea, . , escaped in their undies, fled uphill and clung to a tree - the raging water inches from their feet. But other holidaymakers in the Samoan resort of Lalomanu were among the 169 known to have died. Anna, 29, said: "We were some of the last people to get out alive. "There were two huge waves powering right at us - two lines of white water, like giant white walls. It was coming at such speed. We just ran for our lives. "There was nothing to hold on to until the top of the hill. Chris was able to grab me but there were people behind who weren't so lucky. "I didn't look back any because I didn't want to see what was down there. We just kept going higher". Chris, 30, who lives with her in Auckland, New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. , added: "I was holding on to the tree with one hand and Anna with the other." Tuesday's tsunami, triggered by an earthquake, killed 129 on Samoa, 31 on American Samoa and nine on Tonga. Thousands were left homeless. UK officials were yesterday still trying to trace up to 16 Brits. Rachel Pooley, from Hertford, told how she and Samoan boyfriend Tolu tolu or tolu balsam: see balsam. tried to escape in their car - until it was toppled by waves and began to fill with water. Rachel, who emigrated to Samoa just five weeks ago, said: "The car filled with water. I was searching for air but there was none. I was gulping and gulping black water. "I was smashing on the roof of the car with my head to try and get out. My face was bleeding and smashed up. "Luckily we both managed to scramble out through the windows. The RAF stepped in last night to fly out 65 UK firefighters and specialist equipment after a fault grounded an earlier flight. MUD CHAOS AT least 17 people were killed, 20 injured and 10 were missing yesterday after torren-tial rain and mudslides devastated two mountain villages in Italy. The deluge Deluge (dĕl`y  j), in the Bible, the overwhelming flood that covered the earth and destroyed every living thing except the family of Noah and the creatures in his ark. washed away roads, buildings and railway lines near
Messina in Sicily. The area was declared a disaster zone and teams were
flown in to help search for survivors.
The region is popular with British tourists but there were no reports of any being hurt. CAPTION(S): DEVASTATION Cars buried in mud in Sicily SURVIVORS Chris and Anna after their ordeal |
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