E-Paper
Tsunamis haunt child survivors
Killer tsunamis are coming again, over and over, in the nightmares of children who survived the waves.
Killer tsunamis are coming again, over and over, in the nightmares of children who survived the waves, which swept them from their homes or picnics on Malaysia's Penang Island.
Rahibah Osman's 11-year-old son, Mohamad Fikri Rahim, who was caught by ferocious waves "as high as coconut trees and blackened with mud", has troubled dreams in Penang General Hospital.
He cries in his sleep and shouts "No, no!", his mother, 49, said.
"I don't know what he's talking about, but when I ask him, he starts to cry," she said.
Mohamad Fikri was playing with his 13-year-old sister outside their home about a kilometre away from the beachfront when massive tidal waves struck their village.
"I heard the loud thundering roar of what I thought was the engine of an airplane," Rahibah said.
Within seconds, huge black waves engulfed her house and her two children disappeared. Her daughter had been swept into a neighbouring house and Rahibah managed to grab a pole. Boats were hurled into houses. Mohamad Fikri was nowhere to be seen.
"When the waves died down, his cousin went into the water to search for him and managed to find him. He was covered in mud, even his mouth was full of mud," she said.
