A Dublin man last night appealed for help in finding his sister who is missing in Thailand, as the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that over 20 Irish people are still "unaccounted for".
Mr Robert Finnegan, Ballyfermot, said his family were "running out of things to hold on to", as his sister Eilís has been missing since last Sunday when the tsunami hit Phi Phi Island in Thailand.
Ms Finnegan arrived there with her boyfriend Barry, only 40 minutes before a giant tidal wave hit the shore.
Mr Finnegan said: "They were both on the beach having breakfast. They were literally only waiting on another boat out when they saw the wave."
He told Sky News: "Barry stopped to give some child a hand and when the wave hit, my sister was sprinting ahead of him, but once the water finally cleared over Barry, Eilís wasn't there. She was nowhere to be seen."
Ms Finnegan, a 27-year-old former flight attendant, had been travelling since December 14th. She and her boyfriend planned to go to Argentina but chose Thailand because few flights were available.
Mr Finnegan said his family wanted Eilís's picture "to be beamed everywhere" in the hope it may lead to her being found. "The more people that see that picture, the more hope we have."
Her boyfriend sustained numerous injuries, but they are not believed to be life threatening.
Another Dublin woman, Ms Lucy Coyle (28), and her British boyfriend, Mr Seán Sweetman (31), have also been missing since the tsunami hit Phi Phi island.
There are also fears for the safety of a Co Antrim man missing in Sri Lanka.
Mr Alex Blair, a historian, is due to fly back from a holiday in the region tomorrow but his family and friends have been unable to contact him.
The Irish Ambassador to Thailand and Malaysia, Mr Dan Mulhall, said his staff had been searching hospitals in the region attempting to identify Irish nationals.
Mr Mulhall yesterday found three young Dublin men from Clontarf and Portmarnock in hospital with minor injuries and arranged for them to be airlifted from the region.
There were tearful scenes at Dublin Airport yesterday, as Irish people who had a lucky escape from the tidal wave arrived home.
Ms Louise McClean (26), Dublin, described the noise of the wave hitting their bungalow as being like "a train going over it. By the time we got out of the bungalow we were surrounded by water and had to jump in".
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it had received more than 2,000 calls to its emergency helplines, with over 1,000 calls recorded in one 24-hour period.
A Department spokeswoman stressed last night that there were still no confirmed Irish deaths.