'It was scary, we were fighting for our lives'

A man who lost his parents in the 2004 Boxing Day Indian Ocean tsunami said he and his young brother fought for their lives during the disaster.

Louis Mullan, from Truro, who was 16 at the time, was on holiday with his brother Theo, then aged 11, and his parents Leonard Barratt, 50, and Catherine Mullan, 53, in Khao Lak, Thailand, when the 30m (98ft) wave struck.

"Theo and I were holding on to each other, and then the water just became too deep, and we were at our depth and then we got separated, and then we both went our separate ways through the water," he said.

The brothers, who eventually reunited, searched for their parents before they flew back to the UK where they were adopted by a family in Cornwall.

'I was just looking for mum and dad' Mr Mullan has been speaking in a documentary to be screened from next week, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the disaster.

The tsunami was triggered by an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia which registered a magnitude of up to 9.3.

More than 220,000 people were killed across 14 countries.

Mr Mullan was pushed into a half-built building before being pulled to safety by a stranger.

"It was scary because we didn't know what it was, scary because we were fighting for our lives," he said.

After the water subsided, the then teenager joined a French family he had met earlier on the trip and felt "huge relief" when reunited with his brother, who he spotted walking down a road with a group.

The two went to a local hospital, where Mr Mullan placed a sign on the noticeboard saying the brothers were safe and they were looking for their parents.

"Every room you'd go and see some horrible things, but I was just looking for mum and dad at that point," he said.

The boys were in Thailand for several days before they flew back to the UK without their parents, from Cornwall, who were swept away and killed in the disaster..

The tsunami survivor is set to appear in upcoming documentary Tsunami: Race Against Time which starts on 25 November on National Geographic and Disney+.