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Harrowing experience for English schoolboys
Fifteen young schoolboy cricketers from England had a narrow escape from the Tsunami tidal waves as they were caught up in the melee, while preparing to play against the Galle schools cricket team at the Galle International Stadium last Sunday.

Harrow College was in Sri Lanka from the 10 th of December to play a few games and had already visited Colombo, Kandy and Dambulla. They arrived in Galle on Christmas Day and were scheduled to play the Galle Schools on Sunday (26th) at the Galle Stadium.

The schoolboys who were at Koggala Beach Hotel was at the stadium at 8.30 and were going through their usual practices when they noticed the unusual high tide and people running helter skelter. Not knowing what was happening they soon ran to the pavilion upstairs. Within minutes the situation got worse and the entire stadium was flooded with seven to eight feet of water. With the water level steadily rising the young schoolboys began screaming and scrambled to a higher elevation in the pavilion.

According to one of the officials they witnessed a number of people getting drowned and a fleet of boats destroyed. Shocked and dismayed the schoolboys were in tears as they waited patiently until the water receded and trekked towards the Galle Ramparts to take shelter in a hotel at a higher elevation. They witnessed more of the horror that unfolded on that day from the ramparts before leaving for Colombo on Monday. The squad called off their tour and left the island on Thursday. -MF

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