Tuesday, January 18 2005 19:46 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Phuket: In southern Thailand, residents are staying away from the beaches fearing they are haunted by the ghosts of tsunami victims. In Indonesia, a university student saw a shadowy human shape enter a house - only to find the door locked and no one around. Villagers in Sri Lanka say they still hear cries for help from the ocean.

In the wake of last month's tsunami, stories about people seeing, hearing or even being possessed by ghosts are echoing along Asian coastlines, where thousands of lives were swept away.

In Banda Aceh, the devastated capital of Indonesia's hardest-hit Aceh province, residents living on the banks of the Kruengdhoi River say they heard cries of "Help!'' each evening from beneath the water for two weeks after the Dec 26 disaster. Soldiers have recovered dozens of bodies from the debris-clogged waterway.

Adek, 22, a recently graduated university student, said he was coming to pray at a mosque on the river's banks when he saw two spirits. One was the apparent owner of a home who went in but faded into a shadow. When Adek went to follow, the door was locked and no one was in sight.

"The spirits aren't settled because they haven't met their families," said Adek.

In Phuket, taxi driver Wiwat Sakuldee is afraid of working at night, and says he won't go near the beaches now.