Forensic investigator reveals harrowing scenes he'll never forget 21 years on from Boxing Day tsunami

A forensic investigator has said the memories of the Boxing Day tsunami are just are raw today as they were 21 years ago.

The catastrophic tsunami that killed at least 228,000 people in 15 countries across Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka, was triggered by an undersea Mw 9.2–9.3 earthquake in the Indian Ocean on 26 December 2004.

Entire communities were wiped out from 30 metre high waves at 800 km/h and Peter Baines, a former New South Wales Police forensic investigator, was in Thailand as part of the international recovery team.

“It’s something that no matter how much time passes, I doubt that I’ll ever forget,” he told Sky News Australia.

“Walking through the gates of the temple at Wat Yan Yao to be confronted with the scene of three-and-a-half thousand decomposing bodies in that one temple alone.”

At least 228,000 people died from the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami (SENA VIDANAGAMA/AFP via Getty Images)

He said that the devastation was unprecedented, even for the most experienced of specialists.

“Of the 450 forensic practitioners who would travel there from 36 different countries, I think it’s safe to say that no one had ever seen what we were confronted with in those early days,” Baines said.

The 2004 tsunami happened to be a wake up call to the world, with new drives to improve community preparedness for similar natural disasters in the future.

These include UNESCO's Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System, established in 2005, and the Tsunami Ready Recognition Programme in 2008.

Indonesia suffered the highest death toll (THAI TELEVISION/AFP via Getty Images)

After the immediate recovery came to an end, Baines has dedicated his life to long-term support in Thailand, founding the charity Hands Across the Water.

Last year, he took part in a charity run in the country - 1,400km in 26 days from the northeast of Thailand and finishing at Wat Yan Yao, raising AU $670,000 (£330,000).

“It was an incredible experience," he said.

Hands Across the Water, he stresses, is different to most other charities.

"Some of them arrive within hours if not days and provide that immediate care and support and that’s their remit and they do an amazing job,” he said.

Entire communities were wiped out (AFP via Getty Images)

“Ours is different.”

He highlighted his charity focuses on long term support, raising AU $40 million (£20m) to provide scholarships for kids and opening an agricultural centre and a hospitality centre.

Baines went on: “That first home that we built, it still has 100 odd kids and there’s still the demands and the requests that come from the local government and local hospital and police agencies for us to support the children.

“That need I will see will continue for a long time and we will continue to do that.”