Giant snake leads woman and twins to safety - Giant snake showed way to safety

January 3, 2005

Giant snake showed way to safety

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,11815701%255E663,00.html

Susie O'Brien31dec04AN elephant and a snake the size of a telephone pole helped save the lives of children.Tsunami pictures Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 The amazing animal rescue stories buoyed rescuers as the grim task of searching for tsunami survivors continues.

An Indonesian woman from the devastated province of Aceh had a remarkable story of survival. She saved two children by following a giant snake to navigate flood waters. Riza, 26, a clothes seller from the village of Penayang, was helplessly dragged in raging currents after the giant tsunami hit.

"Thousands of people were screaming hysterically and were panicking as they saw the water rise higher than their houses," she said. As rising waters carried her out of her house, she was dragged towards her neighbour, who was struggling to hold on to her nine-year-old twins. "Please save my twins, just let me go, as long as they're safe," Riza recalled the mother saying. She grabbed the twins and placed them on her back. As she struggled through the torrent she saw a gigantic snake gliding to her left. She followed in its wake until she found land. "Strangely I felt no fear," Riza said. "Thank God, with the power I had left, I managed to go to higher ground and the water was only a metre high." Riza said the twins were bruised and battered, but safe. There was no word on the fate of their mother. In Thailand, a British tourist said several children were playing on a beach when the tsunami struck. They were saved after being placed on the back of a circus elephant. Laura Barnett, 40, said the children were led to safety by the elephant's keeper, riding on the back of the giant beast.

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