Girl, 11, plucked from sea after 24-hour ordeal

AN 11-YEAR-OLD girl yesterday described how she spent more than 24 hours in the sea off Sri Lanka after she was swept away by last Sunday’s devastating tsunami.

Sylvia Lucas was playing on the beach in the village of Pasikudha, north of Batticaloa on the east coast of the island, when she was washed away.

As she floated offshore, she grabbed on to a log for safety.

The little girl then spent more than 24 hours clinging to the same piece of wood, desperately hoping someone would rescue her.

She saw people being lifted from the water on either side by a rescue helicopter, but was too small to attract attention. During her two-day ordeal, Sylvia had to fend off what she described as a “large fish” which was circling her in the water.

Finally, the helicopter flew over again and she frantically waved her arm to be rescued.

This time she was spotted, and lifted from the water to safety, but others in her family were not so lucky. Her brother was killed by the waves.

Sylvia’s parents both survived, but while they are being housed in one of the emergency shelters, she is being looked after by the local organisation Thadaham, a partner of Christian Aid.

Brushing off her ordeal, Sylvia said through a translator: “I was confident that I would be saved. “I was on the beach playing with coconut husks. I am always playing on the beach and in the water, so staying in the sea so long didn’t really scare me.”