Monday, December 27 2004 20:46 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kolkata: A tourist ferry bound for Havelock Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was steered away to mid-sea by its captain in the nick of time as tsunami waves rearing 30 feet in the air smashed into the jetty at Port Blair, an eyewitness today (Dec 27, 2004) said.

''My wife, daughter, grandson and I were sailing to Havelock island from Port Blair for sight-seeing early yesterday. After boarding the vessel, I saw to my horror the main jetty collapsing and waves suddenly rising higher and higher," the eyewitness, a retired police officer, Sibdas Chakraborty told reporters after retuning from the devastated islands.

The ship's captain then steered the vessel away from shore, the eye-witness said.

"When we returned to the mission guesthouse it was a different building...cracks had developed and the road beside it was damaged," he described. The tourist said that they later found refuge in a nearby school building.

"We then decided to cut short our stay in Port Blair and decided to return to Kolkata," Chakraborty said.