‘I survived deadliest tsunami ever but will never forget the gruesome scene I saw on beach’

Andy Chaggar survived the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami which killed around 230,000 people across the Indian Ocean – he described the devastating scene that confronted him on the beach

A man who survived the deadliest tsunami in history described the horror of seeing a beach littered with body parts – and the horrific injury which ended up saving his life.

Around 230,000 people perished when a devastating undersea earthquake tore through the Indian Ocean, with Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand bearing the brunt of the damage.

Brit Andy Chaggar had just quit his job to travel the world with girlfriend Nova when they decided to spend Christmas in Thailand. They headed to beach resort Khao Lak where they enjoyed idyllic festivities.

But his world was turned upside down the following day when he woke up to find their bungalow shaking. As the shaking became more pronounced their panic grew before the first wave hit.

Andy told how he was swept away by the fast-moving current. As he was swept through a hotel that was still being developed, his leg became trapped against one of the concrete pillars. It caused horrific injuries but he thinks it ended up saving his life.

He told OMG Stories: “All the wreckage in the water pinned my leg to a concrete post. That’s what ended up doing most of the injuries to my left leg.

“That’s fundamentally what saved my life. Because I was pinned i couldn’t get dragged out to sea while the wave was receding.

“As the water dropped the pressure was taken off my leg, that meant I was able to free myself. I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t stand up, I could basically drag myself along a little bit. I just felt I was going to die there.”

Andy described the scene as looking like a nuclear bomb had gone off with the beachfront “pretty much completely flattened”.

Another “absolutely terrifying” wave soon hit but thankfully it didn’t get high enough to pick him up and take him with it.

He was eventually rescued, but due to the severity of his injuries he had to be helped by his rescuers.

It was only when Andy, who was 27 at the time, got down to the beach that he realised the scale of the devastation.

He said: “We managed to get down to the beach and that was another shock. There were bodies and body parts all over the beach.”

Andy admitted that was the moment he realised Nova was “probably dead”. He said she was in his mind constantly, but it was another six months before he received confirmation she had died thanks to a partial DNA match.

He described the hospital he was taken to as “a war zone” as television reports laid bare how devastating the tsunami had been. Survivors realised it had impacted the whole Indian Ocean.

After seven months of physical therapy he returned to Thailand to help with the relief effort, and he says it helped to put his loss into perspective.

He said: “I was working alongside local people who had lost way more than me. It helped put my own loss into perspective.”