Asian disaster toll climbs to 9,300

More than 9,300 people across Asia were killed today after one of the most powerful earthquakes on record triggered massive tidal waves that slammed into coastlines in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Thailand and Malaysia.

Tourists, fishermen, hotels, homes and cars were swept away by walls of water unleashed by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake, centred off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where at least 2,200 people were killed by floods and collapsing buildings, officials said.