Bruised and shaken, men and women huddled at a conference centre where tour operators set up help desks to arrange for the evacuation of the tourists.

Britons Ken and Julie Babb from West Midlands said they were rescued by local residents as they struggled to get out after a wall of water pushed into a building that appeared to be under construction at the resort of Bentota.

"We have never experienced anything like this before," Ken Babb told AFP. "This is not an adventure. This is a disaster."

They said they were awaiting a flight back home although they were originally due to spend the New Year in Sri Lanka. However, both said they hoped to return.

German tourist Melony Maas said she and her mother wanted to help the Sri Lankan staff at their hotel after the first tidal wave, but the staff insisted they leave, having helped them to escape the huge wave that followed.

"They told us 'run, run' and we just made it," Maas said as she awaited a flight home. "I cannot describe how I feel. This is very sad for the Sri Lankan people. A lot of poor people have died.

"This is my second visit to Sri Lanka. What I want now is to get back, but I will come again."

Tourists who were forced to flee beach-front resorts along the southern coast were evacuated and transported to several centres in the capital, industry officials said.

"We sent our vehicles to bring our clients back," said Victor Abayasekera of Hemtours, who handles many foreign tourists. "At first, we couldn't get through because the roads were impassable."

"Our priority now is to make arrangements to transfer the passengers who want to leave the country," he told AFP.

He said about 1,000 mostly German tourists brought in to the island by his company had been holidaying on the beach.

At least one charter operator, Germany's LTU, was arranging a special flight.

There were reports of casualties among tourists, but there were no immediate details on their identities.

Tour operators said they had cancelled bookings of those who were due to travel to the coastal areas as more than half the hotels were completely shut down.

Others had varying degrees of damage while some were operating despite some damage to their ground floor facilities.

Until Sunday's unprecedented disaster, tourism had been Sri Lanka's success story with the number of foreign holidaymakers visiting the island hitting an all time record of over half a million.

Tourism had benefited from a ceasefire between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels since February 2002. The drawn out Tamil separatist conflict had seriously undermined tourism for decades.

The authorities had expected some 70,000 holiday makers to visit Sri Lanka in December.

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