Tragedy of the tsunami (From Penarth Times)

Tragedy of the tsunami

A MASS inquest was held in London last week into the deaths of 93 UK citizens in the Indian Ocean tsunami, including that of Penarth man Kevin McCarthy.

The Penarth family of Kevin McCarthy attended the four-day hearing held by coroner Alison Thompson at the Olympia exhibition centre in west London.

All those who died were recorded by the coroner to be victims of the tsunami.

Gary Sellick, the brother-in-law of Kevin McCarthy, said: "The findings of the recent inquiry by the audit office into the way the disaster was handled by the British authorities clearly shows failings.

"However, we feel that the Thai authorities must also carry responsibility for not having any warning system in place.

"Also, the timing of the inquest was hardly ideal with the anniversary of the tsunami coming up."

Kevin McCarthy was on holiday on Khao Lak island with his girlfriend Debra Evans when the tragedy struck killing them both.

Kevin attended St Joeseph's Primary School in Penarth and St Cadoc's Comprehensive School (now St Richard Gwyn) in Barry.

The tragedy is estimated to have killed 270,000 people.

A joint report by the Foreign Office and Audit Office published last month acknowledged that mistakes were made in the British response to the Indian Ocean tsunami.

It said that in the aftermath, emergency hotlines were overwhelmed, there was a shortage of medical staff and a rapid response team was sent to the wrong location.

The mass inquest heard of the "devastating loss" of film director Lord Attenborough's daughter and granddaughter in the disaster.

The inquest also heard that the mother and stepfather of TV gardener Charlie Dimmock drowned at the beach resort of Khao Lak, Thailand.

An expert from the National Oceanography Centre told the hearing that a warning system to detect the Asian tsunami may not have helped victims.

Dr Tim Henstock told the hearing that no-one in the region could have expected an earthquake of the scale that hit, estimated at between 9.2 and 9.3 on the Richter scale.

Coroner Alison Thompson said: "The scope of the inquiry is limited to determining and recording essential facts concerning each death - the identity of each victim, when, where and how they died."

"This court is prohibited in law from looking at any other issues.