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"The program contains the following
Content that may disturb some viewers.

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Viewer discretion is advised.”

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(Atlanta, USA)
10 pm"

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00:00:12,762 --> 00:00:16,975
On Christmas Day, 2004,

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00:00:17,142 --> 00:00:23,606
I was working the night shift as an administrator
From the international bureau of CNN.

6
00:00:28,278 --> 00:00:33,491
So I went up the escalator
To the main CNN newsroom

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00:00:33,658 --> 00:00:38,288
And it was almost completely empty.

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00:00:41,875 --> 00:00:48,381
Everyone knows that Christmas Day is
One of the quietest days in the news,

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00:00:48,548 --> 00:00:49,632
In the field of news.

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00:00:52,469 --> 00:00:57,223
I asked my colleague,
Is anything happening in the world?

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00:00:57,390 --> 00:01:00,101
She said, Not really, everything is quiet.

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00:01:00,268 --> 00:01:04,939
She said, there's a report
About an earthquake off the coast of Sumatra.

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Nothing really happens except that.

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00:01:10,987 --> 00:01:13,531
But then the phone rang,

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He was the head of the New Delhi office.
Calling from Sri Lanka.

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He said, I'm getting reports here

17
00:01:25,085 --> 00:01:30,006
About completely wiping out coastal areas.

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00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:37,680
“I told him, ‘There was a huge earthquake in Indonesia.’”

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00:01:37,847 --> 00:01:41,684
As soon as I received the first call from SAT,

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I realize this is really dangerous.

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It must have been a tsunami.

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“In 2004, the world experienced a tsunami
The deadliest in recorded history

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00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:24,644
It is possible now
To tell the whole story of that day

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00:02:26,729 --> 00:02:33,736
Through the eyes of those who survived

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00:03:02,182 --> 00:03:09,480
“The tsunami covers 1,609 km
From the open ocean at the speed of a jet.”

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00:03:11,441 --> 00:03:14,694
"(Sri Lanka)"

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“At 8:30 a.m. local time,
It strikes the eastern coast of Sri Lanka.

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{\an8}"Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka"

29
00:03:37,383 --> 00:03:40,136
I was a reporter in the area and I was working hard,

30
00:03:40,303 --> 00:03:41,846
Five years without a break.

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00:03:45,934 --> 00:03:50,271
My family was upset,
And to kind of compensate, I said,

32
00:03:50,438 --> 00:03:53,650
Let's go on vacation and go to Sri Lanka.

33
00:03:56,486 --> 00:04:00,031
So we decided to go shopping as a family.

34
00:04:03,034 --> 00:04:07,163
I noticed that there was tension in the streets.

35
00:04:07,330 --> 00:04:10,792
Something's wrong, that's for sure.

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My phone was ringing, and it was
From our freelance correspondent in Sri Lanka,

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00:04:19,926 --> 00:04:23,930
The message was very short,
Call me, it's an emergency.

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“Satynder,” he said, “strange things happen.”

39
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I'm receiving reports from eastern Sri Lanka.

40
00:04:33,564 --> 00:04:36,276
From the opposite side of the island,

41
00:04:36,442 --> 00:04:39,279
That huge waves had hit it.

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00:04:41,531 --> 00:04:47,495
I don't know what's going on,
I think we have to act.

43
00:04:59,716 --> 00:05:04,804
{\an8}"It's 9:15 in the morning
South (Colombo)

44
00:05:08,224 --> 00:05:12,770
I was traveling for six months
Before I arrived in Sri Lanka.

45
00:05:12,937 --> 00:05:17,650
I do some yoga, I love it.

46
00:05:19,777 --> 00:05:23,239
{\an8}And I came feeling good, the atmosphere is good,

47
00:05:23,406 --> 00:05:26,659
{\an8}New country, new adventures.

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I ran to the beach.

49
00:05:37,879 --> 00:05:41,341
There are corals and stones.

50
00:05:41,507 --> 00:05:46,262
But the reef was
It was exposed and the sea was far away.

51
00:05:52,268 --> 00:05:57,357
There were prawns jumping on the rocks.

52
00:06:07,742 --> 00:06:13,873
There was no fear.
There had to be fear.

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00:06:17,543 --> 00:06:22,799
Then there was a cry, the sea is coming.

54
00:06:39,273 --> 00:06:42,735
But it seemed to be coming gently.

55
00:07:04,674 --> 00:07:07,218
Suddenly everyone started running.

56
00:07:14,725 --> 00:07:16,477
then...

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{\an8}"Warning Center
of the tsunami in the Pacific Ocean"

58
00:07:33,035 --> 00:07:35,538
We had a television running in the operating room.

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{\an8}We haven't seen any media reports yet,
But we were thinking, this is not good, yeah.

60
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We do as much research as we can, any
What could be found in terms of data was,

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00:07:50,803 --> 00:07:53,931
In terms of media, to try
Get better control over this.

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00:07:56,142 --> 00:08:01,105
By then, we knew it was a tsunami
Whoever crosses the ocean may be in danger

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00:08:01,272 --> 00:08:04,066
Every country along the coast of the Indian Ocean.

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00:08:06,027 --> 00:08:11,949
It was "Sri Lanka"
In the worst possible location from the strongest tsunami.

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It was the largest crack in history.

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With a length of about 1200 to 1300 km,

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About the size of California.

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Because "Sri Lanka"
was perpendicular to the fault line,

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The tsunami wave hit it.

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00:08:44,649 --> 00:08:47,527
{\an8}The tsunami will disintegrate.

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{\an8}It will go around the island, exposing the population
In other aspects,

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{\an8}On the far sides of the island, to danger.

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We're talking about massive damage,
Huge loss of life...

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Not just one wave, but multiple waves,

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A subsequent wave could be stronger.

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"9:24 AM"

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“Earthquake - plus 2 hours and 27 minutes”

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{\an8}"Bus station (gal)"

79
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The entire bus stand was destroyed by the wave.

80
00:10:01,767 --> 00:10:03,352
It was unimaginable.

81
00:10:03,519 --> 00:10:07,231
(MK Kohli)
Bus station security guard

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People were swept away like confetti.

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00:10:10,693 --> 00:10:12,695
This is completely unbelievable.

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00:10:29,754 --> 00:10:35,676
I told someone, if I die,
So tell my family not to despair.

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00:10:35,843 --> 00:10:40,097
I know that if I die, it will be
It's to save someone else's life.

86
00:10:40,264 --> 00:10:44,268
I won't regret it.

87
00:10:44,435 --> 00:10:48,064
And with that, she jumped into the water.

88
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I saw a little boy being swept away.

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00:11:11,170 --> 00:11:13,255
I managed to catch the baby.

90
00:11:17,259 --> 00:11:23,349
I performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the child.

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I knew that would help.

92
00:11:35,361 --> 00:11:38,239
Then the baby made a little sound.

93
00:11:44,537 --> 00:11:48,207
I prayed that the baby would survive.

94
00:11:51,544 --> 00:11:56,841
She put the baby down
I jumped into the water again.

95
00:12:07,476 --> 00:12:12,064
I was underwater and had no air.

96
00:12:21,198 --> 00:12:25,995
I remember the feeling of the wave passing over my face

97
00:12:26,162 --> 00:12:33,002
And her attempt to tear out my nostrils
He opened my eyelids, with tremendous force.

98
00:12:39,759 --> 00:12:45,890
I was running and my legs were tearing up.

99
00:12:55,941 --> 00:12:59,737
We drive along the coast.

100
00:13:05,534 --> 00:13:08,245
Now the crowds have increased.

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00:13:14,251 --> 00:13:19,507
There are thousands of people
By the water, near the shore.

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00:13:22,802 --> 00:13:28,098
{\an8}And they all looked at the sea,
And it's very loud, and it's very agitated.

103
00:13:32,853 --> 00:13:38,359
Then I got a call
From Galle, southern Sri Lanka.

104
00:13:38,526 --> 00:13:41,737
He speaks fast
I had to ask him to slow down.

105
00:13:44,198 --> 00:13:49,245
He said, there is water at the train station,
There is water at the bus station,

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There is water everywhere. This is a disaster.

107
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It was all happening on
Kilometers away from where you were.

108
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I see from my supervisor position

109
00:14:04,343 --> 00:14:09,390
The sea is definitely heading towards the hotel.

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00:14:11,350 --> 00:14:14,895
I had to keep myself safe
My family and I said, it's time to go up.

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Passenger train from Colombo.

112
00:14:21,110 --> 00:14:24,780
"He is heading south towards the path of the tsunami."

113
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{\an8}"9:29 AM"

114
00:14:28,325 --> 00:14:32,997
{\an8}"9:30 AM"

115
00:14:40,671 --> 00:14:42,840
It was a very crowded train.

116
00:14:50,848 --> 00:14:54,643
I was traveling with my mom
To my aunt and uncle's farm,

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00:14:54,810 --> 00:14:58,772
It is the house where my mother grew up.

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00:15:01,483 --> 00:15:05,696
We were standing side by side with other people.

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00:15:13,495 --> 00:15:17,082
I am one of three brothers,
It's nice to have some alone time

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00:15:17,249 --> 00:15:20,085
With my mother, but for me too,

121
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It was great
Seeing it in its natural environment.

122
00:15:29,303 --> 00:15:32,431
We moved to America
In the late 1980s.

123
00:15:34,767 --> 00:15:39,730
And in America, mostly
What people ask you is where you are from.

124
00:15:39,897 --> 00:15:42,858
So I kind of developed an answer

125
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{\an8}"Chicago" is home,
“Sri Lanka” is home.

126
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{\an8}This is what most immigrants do
It is a reconciliation of their worlds.

127
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The train stopped.

128
00:16:06,006 --> 00:16:09,551
And in the first moments that
We felt something was wrong with her

129
00:16:09,718 --> 00:16:15,516
It was when the water level started
From afar he approaches us.

130
00:16:15,683 --> 00:16:21,063
Water, our train has already entered,
And slowly push into your body,

131
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Ankles, knees, thighs and waist.

132
00:16:25,734 --> 00:16:29,279
Then the water slowly receded.

133
00:16:32,116 --> 00:16:36,328
{\an8}I went out to take some pictures.

134
00:16:37,705 --> 00:16:42,418
The car that was
In front of us it turned on its side.

135
00:16:43,669 --> 00:16:49,675
My mother and I argued if we should
We try to go out and swim somewhere,

136
00:16:49,842 --> 00:16:54,138
But looking out the window of a carriage
Train, there was no dry land.

137
00:16:57,099 --> 00:17:00,853
I headed towards the front of the train.

138
00:17:02,563 --> 00:17:06,608
I saw a second wave coming.

139
00:17:07,317 --> 00:17:11,030
(Wanigaratne Karunatilake)
train guard"

140
00:17:11,113 --> 00:17:18,037
The middle was completely black
And foam on top.

141
00:17:18,203 --> 00:17:24,918
The waves rose like a dragon swimming.

142
00:17:26,837 --> 00:17:32,259
I thought the water would submerge the cart and turn it over.

143
00:17:32,426 --> 00:17:35,763
I reached the carriage

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00:17:35,929 --> 00:17:40,976
The window facing the sea was fully opened.

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00:17:42,019 --> 00:17:47,691
We heard screaming, and again,
The water started at our feet,

146
00:17:47,858 --> 00:17:51,487
It rose to our knees, waist and chest,

147
00:17:51,653 --> 00:17:54,239
And I think I realized at that point,

148
00:17:54,406 --> 00:17:58,160
This is different from the first time.
The water will not simply recede and recede.

149
00:18:01,205 --> 00:18:05,417
Then the train car overturned.

150
00:18:07,211 --> 00:18:11,340
We were all falling
On top of each other, but we sank under the water.

151
00:18:12,758 --> 00:18:16,428
So I kicked someone.
It's very likely that I kicked my mother.

152
00:18:18,555 --> 00:18:22,726
And this is the window that was overlooking
On the ocean I'm at the top now.

153
00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:27,439
Then, fortunately, it was open

154
00:18:27,606 --> 00:18:30,192
I'm small enough to be able to
Pull myself up and get out.

155
00:18:33,028 --> 00:18:39,451
I was alive and now I had a chance
To pull my mom and we can be okay.

156
00:18:39,618 --> 00:18:44,456
Then we started pulling whatever hands
that was stretched out of that window,

157
00:18:44,623 --> 00:18:48,418
And I thought we'd get there eventually.

158
00:18:50,045 --> 00:18:53,298
At some point, the water levels receded.

159
00:18:57,469 --> 00:19:00,722
I found my mom fairly quickly.

160
00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:11,733
So I tried to press on her stomach
and try to revive it,

161
00:19:11,900 --> 00:19:17,614
It seemed hopeful
Because water was coming out of her mouth.

162
00:19:20,325 --> 00:19:24,955
Soon after, the water turned into blood.

163
00:19:25,122 --> 00:19:31,753
I didn't want to hurt her anymore,
And to make her bleed, so I stopped.

164
00:19:33,422 --> 00:19:38,635
I took her wedding ring and kissed her and told my mom

165
00:19:38,802 --> 00:19:44,892
That I would come back for her, and then we left.

166
00:19:45,058 --> 00:19:48,187
We left her on the train.

167
00:19:55,027 --> 00:20:00,407
And we went into the water
Let's try to find safe ground.

168
00:20:14,671 --> 00:20:17,466
{\an8}"(Colombo) - 10 am"

169
00:20:17,633 --> 00:20:22,012
{\an8}The higher we go,
I felt safe with my family.

170
00:20:28,227 --> 00:20:30,437
And the first thing
What I did was go up to the balcony and look.

171
00:20:33,649 --> 00:20:37,527
There is a small road in front of the hotel,
Where the sea crossed the road.

172
00:20:39,655 --> 00:20:43,575
There is a swimming pool nearby.
I see the sea flowing into that pool.

173
00:20:50,123 --> 00:20:56,046
And the adrenaline I usually feel
As a reporter he is now replaced by fear.

174
00:20:58,257 --> 00:21:02,594
I called Eli.
From CNN's Atlanta headquarters.

175
00:21:05,555 --> 00:21:09,601
Sat called and I realized we needed to understand

176
00:21:09,768 --> 00:21:13,230
The true size of this tsunami.

177
00:21:15,107 --> 00:21:21,154
{\an8}We're supposed to be able
to tell people what is happening in a situation,

178
00:21:21,530 --> 00:21:23,198
Literally about life and death.

179
00:21:24,992 --> 00:21:30,038
And there were only three of us in Atlanta.
In the international office,

180
00:21:30,205 --> 00:21:35,544
It was very difficult to get
Accurate information.

181
00:21:35,711 --> 00:21:38,797
We were calling people on the ground,

182
00:21:38,964 --> 00:21:41,758
We are trying to talk to government officials.

183
00:21:41,925 --> 00:21:45,887
Tell us everything that "Sri Lanka"
She was the center of the story.

184
00:21:46,054 --> 00:21:50,267
music. Let's get ready, music, we're back.

185
00:21:50,434 --> 00:21:53,812
I brought Satender through the control room.

186
00:21:56,690 --> 00:22:00,694
It seemed surreal. I'm on break,

187
00:22:00,861 --> 00:22:04,448
CNN is in breaking news mode.
This is an important moment.

188
00:22:06,283 --> 00:22:09,870
It provided the world's first eyewitness report,

189
00:22:10,037 --> 00:22:14,207
Directly from the balcony of the 6th floor hotel

190
00:22:14,333 --> 00:22:16,877
{\an8}Joining us on the Colombo line is our correspondent,

191
00:22:17,085 --> 00:22:18,754
{\an8}"Satinder Bindra". "Satender."

192
00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:22,758
{\an8}Yes, I'm standing by the shoreline
Here in Colombo.

193
00:22:22,924 --> 00:22:27,846
{\an8}The sea moved very quickly and swept away everything.

194
00:22:28,013 --> 00:22:31,391
{\an8}It is clear that the residents here are concerned,
Because no one is quite sure...

195
00:22:31,558 --> 00:22:35,187
At this point, I know this is a big story

196
00:22:35,354 --> 00:22:38,732
And the world should know what was happening.

197
00:22:40,317 --> 00:22:43,320
I picked up the phone
And I called my office in Delhi.

198
00:22:43,487 --> 00:22:47,824
And I said to the assignment editor there,
Stop everyone for a break.

199
00:22:47,991 --> 00:22:50,327
{\an8}We need a full crew. We need a photographer.

200
00:22:50,494 --> 00:22:53,205
{\an8}We must have a living presence in this story.

201
00:22:58,710 --> 00:23:05,258
"(Jaffa, Israel)"

202
00:23:05,425 --> 00:23:12,140
Early in the morning, my neighbor knocked on the door forcefully.

203
00:23:12,307 --> 00:23:17,354
income. He asked me to turn on the TV.

204
00:23:19,189 --> 00:23:21,108
So I did what they told me to do.

205
00:23:32,869 --> 00:23:35,831
I saw the wave. I saw a big wave.

206
00:23:38,834 --> 00:23:40,043
I was horrified...

207
00:23:42,712 --> 00:23:48,260
Because I knew that wave
You took my daughter. I knew that.

208
00:23:50,303 --> 00:23:54,724
She was traveling around Sri Lanka.

209
00:23:54,891 --> 00:24:01,940
I am a single mother,
So I can't lose her.

210
00:24:02,107 --> 00:24:03,984
She was my whole world.

211
00:24:06,945 --> 00:24:09,948
I just wanted to hear her voice.

212
00:24:12,576 --> 00:24:15,162
Just to hear her voice.

213
00:24:29,134 --> 00:24:34,848
My only goal was to find my mate.

214
00:24:40,103 --> 00:24:46,193
On Gale Road,
The water was up to my waist.

215
00:25:04,169 --> 00:25:08,048
{\an8}"(Gayantha Mahipala)
Marine (Sri Lanka)

216
00:25:08,215 --> 00:25:12,010
I saw bodies everywhere

217
00:25:12,177 --> 00:25:17,933
But I had faith in myself
I will find my mate alive.

218
00:25:28,944 --> 00:25:33,406
My companion was wearing a t-shirt
Always blue and jeans.

219
00:25:41,081 --> 00:25:48,213
I saw a girl stuck in a tree wearing...
Same jeans and t-shirt.

220
00:25:50,799 --> 00:25:53,843
As I got closer, I saw it was her.

221
00:25:54,010 --> 00:26:00,392
She was stuck there, face down
Down, stuck in a branch of a tree.

222
00:26:00,559 --> 00:26:06,022
So, face down,
Her hands dangled like a dead corpse.

223
00:26:12,821 --> 00:26:15,240
She was a very beautiful girl.

224
00:26:18,910 --> 00:26:20,370
I was handing her her letters

225
00:26:20,537 --> 00:26:26,710
She used to take it and hide it under her bed.

226
00:26:32,841 --> 00:26:35,552
A truck suddenly stopped.

227
00:26:41,975 --> 00:26:46,021
I placed it on top of the other bodies in the truck.

228
00:26:46,187 --> 00:26:51,276
I climbed up and took her to Karapitiya Hospital.

229
00:27:24,142 --> 00:27:26,019
They came like river water.

230
00:27:30,982 --> 00:27:35,362
They came again and again.

231
00:27:45,288 --> 00:27:49,501
My wife and I were trained medical doctors

232
00:27:49,668 --> 00:27:53,088
"Trainee physician Dr. Ajantha Fernando."

233
00:27:53,254 --> 00:27:58,510
We just had our little girl.
She was five months old at the time.

234
00:28:02,931 --> 00:28:05,642
I was trying to revive a baby girl.

235
00:28:08,311 --> 00:28:11,815
I thought if someone was more competent

236
00:28:11,981 --> 00:28:15,985
Seniority would help me.

237
00:28:16,152 --> 00:28:20,657
There was another doctor
He tries to resuscitate another patient

238
00:28:20,824 --> 00:28:22,033
And I called him.

239
00:28:26,329 --> 00:28:28,832
But he couldn't come.

240
00:28:32,085 --> 00:28:34,879
The nurses didn't know what to do.

241
00:28:45,014 --> 00:28:49,477
But they stood there and did their best.

242
00:28:59,195 --> 00:29:05,118
When I saw those kids
I suddenly remembered my daughter.

243
00:29:08,496 --> 00:29:10,457
I didn't want to give up.

244
00:29:13,585 --> 00:29:16,838
When you feel like
You can save one life.

245
00:29:19,883 --> 00:29:22,010
This is priceless.

246
00:29:26,222 --> 00:29:31,352
{\an8}"Karapitiya Hospital"
10:30 in the morning.”

247
00:29:32,353 --> 00:29:36,691
Carried by several people

248
00:29:36,858 --> 00:29:40,111
They put her on a stretcher.

249
00:29:43,656 --> 00:29:47,660
I couldn't catch the stretcher
So I ran after them.

250
00:29:58,213 --> 00:30:03,134
Doctors and nurses surrounded her
They pressed her stomach.

251
00:30:03,301 --> 00:30:06,012
I saw water coming out of her mouth.

252
00:30:11,392 --> 00:30:14,270
Doctors and nurses moved away.

253
00:30:25,365 --> 00:30:30,870
I was next to her, stroking her hair.

254
00:30:33,957 --> 00:30:36,960
I was completely devastated.

255
00:30:41,172 --> 00:30:44,676
A few seconds passed.

256
00:30:48,930 --> 00:30:50,473
She opened her eyes.

257
00:30:50,849 --> 00:30:52,183
"Miss Nayana Dilhaney"

258
00:30:58,606 --> 00:31:02,151
My companion was by my side.

259
00:31:02,318 --> 00:31:08,825
I cried. I couldn't believe he survived, I was so happy.

260
00:31:08,992 --> 00:31:14,539
I felt so much love when she hugged me.

261
00:31:14,706 --> 00:31:20,378
This was the beginning of our love.

262
00:31:20,545 --> 00:31:23,840
When I found out he saved me.

263
00:31:24,007 --> 00:31:27,635
I knew he was the man I wanted to marry.

264
00:31:29,387 --> 00:31:36,227
I have two sons now. I am happy and safe.

265
00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:01,669
I took the truck I rented to my family.

266
00:32:02,837 --> 00:32:06,466
I drove along the coast towards Galle.

267
00:32:13,681 --> 00:32:19,520
I was shocked by the force of what happened that morning.

268
00:32:20,980 --> 00:32:23,483
Destroy everything.

269
00:32:30,073 --> 00:32:34,786
What I see is just the tip of the iceberg.

270
00:32:41,042 --> 00:32:46,589
I entered a fishing community
I found the sea rushing toward the land.

271
00:32:51,094 --> 00:32:56,975
And I looked about a kilometer along the coast,

272
00:32:57,141 --> 00:32:59,936
Roads were destroyed.

273
00:33:00,103 --> 00:33:05,066
It was impossible to get from Colombo.
To "Gal" on the road.

274
00:33:08,403 --> 00:33:10,154
All communications were cut off.

275
00:33:11,781 --> 00:33:15,326
And I made the decision

276
00:33:15,493 --> 00:33:19,497
That we try to send a helicopter to Gal.

277
00:33:22,709 --> 00:33:27,422
We realized that the roads and bridges had disappeared,

278
00:33:27,588 --> 00:33:31,009
The phone lines were cut off,

279
00:33:31,175 --> 00:33:34,762
It took us the first few hours
Thinking that "Sri Lanka"

280
00:33:34,929 --> 00:33:37,098
It was the focus of the story.

281
00:33:40,393 --> 00:33:44,939
But after that,
There was a huge amount of information

282
00:33:45,106 --> 00:33:49,902
It was now flowing from many sources.

283
00:33:51,029 --> 00:33:54,323
{\an8}"(Kanyakumari, India)"

284
00:33:54,407 --> 00:33:57,535
{\an8}We started hearing reports from India.

285
00:34:02,498 --> 00:34:04,042
{\an8}From "Malaysia".

286
00:34:07,837 --> 00:34:13,509
{\an8}“Maldives”...and from “Thailand”.

287
00:34:18,306 --> 00:34:20,558
We were calling everyone in the field.

288
00:34:20,725 --> 00:34:24,228
Everyone in the field was calling us,

289
00:34:24,896 --> 00:34:30,193
{\an8}And we sent everyone to every location that occurred to us.

290
00:34:30,359 --> 00:34:32,278
{\an8}"(Koh Racha, Thailand)"

291
00:34:35,907 --> 00:34:41,412
We had no context
To understand a tsunami of this size

292
00:34:41,579 --> 00:34:42,663
And with such power.

293
00:34:42,830 --> 00:34:47,210
Nothing like this has ever happened in any of our lives.

294
00:34:54,842 --> 00:35:00,264
{\an8}"(Ambalangoda, Sri Lanka)"

295
00:35:01,224 --> 00:35:04,977
{\an8}"12:30 noon"

296
00:35:06,479 --> 00:35:08,648
I don't remember standing up.

297
00:35:12,985 --> 00:35:18,950
I was devastated and had a deep cut on my leg.

298
00:35:23,037 --> 00:35:27,041
Everything was a mess.

299
00:35:32,922 --> 00:35:39,011
Local villagers started collecting all
Who was still alive?

300
00:35:46,936 --> 00:35:53,067
They started evacuating us to hospitals.

301
00:35:57,572 --> 00:36:01,075
I felt really lonely.

302
00:36:02,201 --> 00:36:06,164
And I saw a man holding a cell phone.

303
00:36:06,330 --> 00:36:10,293
I asked him if I could use the phone

304
00:36:10,459 --> 00:36:14,297
He said he would gladly give it to me
But there were no lines.

305
00:36:14,463 --> 00:36:17,675
All the columns fell.

306
00:36:17,842 --> 00:36:22,221
There was no communication. And I said, let me try.

307
00:36:24,849 --> 00:36:27,852
So he gave me the phone.

308
00:36:37,028 --> 00:36:41,365
{\an8}"(Su Mor Ben Zvi)"

309
00:36:46,245 --> 00:36:47,788
And she replied.

310
00:36:47,955 --> 00:36:53,127
And I said, Mom, I'm fine.

311
00:36:55,213 --> 00:36:57,673
She was alive.

312
00:36:59,050 --> 00:37:02,428
I just lost my mind.

313
00:37:02,595 --> 00:37:08,684
I was screaming, "Sue."

314
00:37:12,521 --> 00:37:15,441
And I think the conversation lasted for two seconds,

315
00:37:15,608 --> 00:37:19,779
But I was still holding the phone and talking.

316
00:37:25,034 --> 00:37:30,706
I got it back. I got myself back.

317
00:37:30,873 --> 00:37:32,667
I got my life back.

318
00:37:34,460 --> 00:37:37,755
"(Sue Moore Ben Zvi) - (Ronnie Moore Shuri)"

319
00:37:55,314 --> 00:37:59,360
We managed to get
On a helicopter from Colombo.

320
00:38:03,531 --> 00:38:08,119
Then you start heading towards Gal.
Then you can see from the air.

321
00:38:08,286 --> 00:38:12,373
Everything along the coast was destroyed.

322
00:38:20,423 --> 00:38:24,218
And I remember being told about the train.

323
00:38:31,892 --> 00:38:36,063
Minutes after leaving
The train to the last station,

324
00:38:36,230 --> 00:38:39,066
That train station had information

325
00:38:39,233 --> 00:38:42,361
That the train was heading straight
Towards the tsunami.

326
00:38:42,528 --> 00:38:47,742
But there was no cell phone on the train,
It was not possible to deliver that message.

327
00:38:56,167 --> 00:39:00,713
There were local people
They pick people up from the train.

328
00:39:06,302 --> 00:39:10,014
I was numb with shock and grief.

329
00:39:14,143 --> 00:39:17,730
I had returned to my aunt and uncle.

330
00:39:20,399 --> 00:39:24,528
I hugged them and they hugged me.

331
00:39:25,654 --> 00:39:30,868
Then I was safe.

332
00:39:31,035 --> 00:39:33,788
And at home.

333
00:39:35,206 --> 00:39:37,041
What do you do?

334
00:39:38,751 --> 00:39:40,878
{\an8}"(Tamara Mendes)"

335
00:39:41,170 --> 00:39:47,301
{\an8}There is a beauty in saying “goodbye” to my mother
When she was alive and kicking.

336
00:39:50,096 --> 00:39:55,684
She was 55 years old
Young, healthy and beautiful.

337
00:39:57,728 --> 00:40:03,692
And I think I finally understand now, being a mother,

338
00:40:03,859 --> 00:40:07,780
If you have a choice, you want to
May your children always survive.

339
00:40:12,618 --> 00:40:15,830
The death toll is estimated at more than 2,000 people.

340
00:40:15,996 --> 00:40:18,874
We had electricity,
So we can watch the news.

341
00:40:19,041 --> 00:40:24,171
Hundreds died when a train overturned
On its side and then waves

342
00:40:24,338 --> 00:40:27,967
I carried him toward the sea, and he was snatched away
Entire railway tracks.

343
00:40:28,134 --> 00:40:33,889
Then I realized how few there are
How many people survived that train?

344
00:40:40,104 --> 00:40:45,818
He was on the train over
Of the 1,500 passengers, more than 1,000 were killed

345
00:40:45,985 --> 00:40:52,700
It's a train disaster
The deadliest in history.

346
00:40:52,867 --> 00:40:56,328
These possibilities brought guilt and joy,

347
00:40:56,495 --> 00:41:02,001
Understanding randomness and God's plan,
Whatever you want to call it.

348
00:41:02,168 --> 00:41:06,714
Watch the news
Over the next few days

349
00:41:06,881 --> 00:41:09,300
Made me realize how much
I was lucky to be alive.

350
00:41:09,467 --> 00:41:11,177
{\an8}We interrupt your usual program

351
00:41:11,343 --> 00:41:13,387
{\an8}To transmit breaking news from ABC.

352
00:41:13,554 --> 00:41:16,724
{\an8}The strongest earthquake in 40 years...

353
00:41:16,891 --> 00:41:19,101
Release giant waves
Or tsunami waves...

354
00:41:19,268 --> 00:41:22,104
It strikes without warning
At the height of the holiday season.

355
00:41:22,271 --> 00:41:24,440
Many victims lived off scale

356
00:41:24,607 --> 00:41:26,859
International Tsunami Warning System.

357
00:41:27,026 --> 00:41:32,364
Mary Peterson has the latest on the disaster
Its full dimensions...

358
00:41:32,531 --> 00:41:39,622
I remember hearing that trains
In Sri Lanka, it deviated from its path.

359
00:41:41,207 --> 00:41:44,835
{\an8}That was shocking.

360
00:41:46,879 --> 00:41:49,131
{\an8}I called my wife.

361
00:41:49,298 --> 00:41:54,178
She started crying, and I remember crying too.

362
00:41:57,723 --> 00:42:01,310
So it was difficult.
That was a difficult moment.

363
00:42:05,523 --> 00:42:11,028
When we realized that Sri Lanka was devastated,

364
00:42:11,195 --> 00:42:15,324
We were thinking, what more can we do
Who is that? What can we do?

365
00:42:19,703 --> 00:42:24,875
Then the phone rang, I answered and it was
US Department of State.

366
00:42:26,293 --> 00:42:30,047
I explained to them that this is a danger along the ocean.

367
00:42:30,214 --> 00:42:31,799
You have relationships

368
00:42:31,966 --> 00:42:35,636
And touchpoints and all that stuff
We need them to warn the coasts.

369
00:42:38,305 --> 00:42:42,017
We could see that the next big number
Of people who were in danger

370
00:42:42,184 --> 00:42:45,604
They were on the east coast of Africa.

371
00:42:45,771 --> 00:42:50,651
I said, please get the message across
To coastal populations.

372
00:42:51,944 --> 00:42:55,114
{\an8}"(Mombasa, Kenya)"

373
00:42:55,573 --> 00:43:01,537
{\an8}Kenya received
The news came before the wave and they evacuated the place.

374
00:43:04,081 --> 00:43:09,795
We felt like we had at least done something. on
At least we hope we saved someone.

375
00:43:11,797 --> 00:43:16,635
Millions of people woke up
On news of an incredible tragedy.

376
00:43:18,971 --> 00:43:24,685
But soon it began to unfold
Amazing stories of survival.

377
00:43:26,604 --> 00:43:31,900
Our coverage shifted to the rescue efforts.

378
00:43:35,362 --> 00:43:37,865
{\an8}And the desperate search for families

379
00:43:38,032 --> 00:43:42,119
{\an8}Clinging to the hope of their loved ones' survival.

380
00:44:00,471 --> 00:44:02,473
{\an8}Translated by Laila Mezher