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| Tuesday, 28 December 2004 |
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Over 350 foreigners evacuated from hotels in South by Ramani Kangaraarachchi and Anjana Samarasinghe Over 350 foreigners who were evacuated from beach hotels in the south were accomodated yesterday at the BMICH following the destruction caused by the Tsunami tidal waves on Sunday. The hotel groups with the assistance of the Sri Lanka Tourist Board have been set up help desks to attend to all the needs of foreigners who narrowly escaped the disaster. The Confifi Group and Neptune Hotel looks after these tourists at the BMICH and they have arranged doctors to attend to their medical needs, facilities to speak to their homes and send messages, and travel arrangements to return home safely as soon as possible. "We are very lucky to survive from this disaster and the hotels management looked after us so well during this crisis period," said Lin Griffiths from UK who was on a holiday with her two daughters. "It was a dreadful experience. I was on the beach when a huge wave came suddenly pushing me and I held on to a fence. I saw the wave knocking down the building. I was brought to the hotel after sometime and those in the hotel took immediate action to make us comfortable. T. Tomaschek said that he was in the balcony of the hotel with his wife and went for breakfast. Then the first wave grabbed us. However, the hotel staff saved us and brought us here. We are well looked after, he said. Meanwhile, the Confifi and Neptune Hotels management said that they have already made travel arrangements for them to return home soon. All the tourists are satisfied and commended the efforts of hotel Management companies to ensure their safety and comfort. Meanwhile, Lalin Samarawickrama, Director Hotels, Connaissance de Ceylon Ltd. said that there has been some damage to Hotel Reef in Hikkaduwa. "Twelve rooms and the basement area have been affected. Forty-one of our guests who were in this hotel were on their way to Colombo and none of them was hurt," he said. Mani Sugathapala, Manager Marketing and Sales, Keells Hotel Management Services Ltd. said there was damage to the Coral Gardens in Hikkaduwa and Beach Hotel Bayroo. We haven't estimated the total damage yet. At present we are more concerned about the safety of our guests. However, none of them was affected," he said. Unconfirmed sources said that the manager and the staff of Nilaveli Beach Hotel Trincomalee went missing since yesterday's incident. However, officials of Tangerine Tours Limited declined to comment. |
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