Mennonite Central Committee

MCC worker finds chaos and devastation in Sri Lanka coastal areas

December 30, 2004
Mary Oxley

In Sri Lanka, MCC worker Mark Oxley is traveling with a medical team to coastal areas devastated by the earthquake-triggered waves. This is an excerpt from a Dec. 30 e-mail from Mary Oxley, relaying her husband's experiences in his first day of travels.

This morning they were heading out to the coast to try and reconnect with the first medical team who left a day earlier.

However, they were just arriving in a small town when chaos let loose. People had just got wind of a warning of another tidal wave approaching and they were fleeing in the hundreds, making for higher ground. Mark and his team were in an open truck and people were desperately trying to clamber on board.

The crush was causing a number of serious injuries which Steven, a doctor from England, had to treat on the spot. One girl had a bad fracture of her leg which Steve had to put into a temporary splint. Another man had to have a severe wound stitched and an older lady died while being lifted onto another vehicle. Mark said the fear and panic was overwhelming.

While stopped for directions, Mark's team made contact with a local Methodist pastor who told them of a large refugee camp out of town, where Mark and his group reunited with a partner medical team. They went about setting up a temporary clinic where they began treating refugees. There are between 1,500 to 2,000 refugees in this camp, with about 20 in each tent. They have water and food, but, amazingly, there are no toilets at all.

Most of the refugees are from the local Methodist church and from what Mark could figure, the pastor was very involved in the setting up of the camp. The pastor was desperately trying to convince his extended family to return to the church compound where there is a substantial two-story building, but his family didn't want to leave the camp following the fear of another wave. Mark said the refugees are "on edge, really scared and afraid to go back to their homes."

Later, Mark returned to the town where the Methodist church is (about 700 meters from the sea). He said the devastation was unbelievable with concrete and brick-built houses flattened to the ground. One child from the community was killed, the majority being saved by the fact that they were in church at the time of the disaster. They were able to escape to the second story of the church building.

The water mark that remains on the wall outside the church is up to 3 feet in height. The waves washed about 20-25 bodies into the church compound that came from outside of the immediate area. People believe the death toll from the community could be higher as many of the buildings have not yet been searched.

Mark says there is a distinct stench in the air, suggesting that there are bodies still undiscovered. The streets were deserted apart from scavenging dogs. Tonight, Mark and the rest of the two teams will probably be staying in the church building on the second story. He wasn't sure what their plans are for tomorrow. They haven't come across any other relief agencies as yet, but have heard that ZOA and World Vision are in the area. It seems they are acting very much as a "stop gap" until other agencies arrive.