A team of Oxfordshire-based search and rescue specialists have described the scenes of devastation they saw during a three-week mission to tsunami-hit Asia.

Gary Foo, of Oxfordshire Search and Rescue, treats a little girl with an infectionFour volunteers from the charity Oxfordshire Search and Rescue (Osar) flew out to Sri Lanka at the beginning of March to help in field hospitals and search through jungle for bodies following the massive wave which swept across the region on Boxing Day.

Commander-in-Chief Gary Foo, a former police officer and field medic, said: "It's certainly the worst global conditions I've seen. Everyone's lives have been destroyed.

"Sri Lanka is one of those resorts that's like a paradise -- it's a picture postcard. But then you look to the side and it's just destroyed buildings, the remains of people's belongings.

"It was the worst mass grave we've ever experienced."

Although Sri Lanka was badly hit by the tsunami, most of the relief aid has been centred around Indonesia.

Mr Foo, of Henley, said many of Sri Lanka's people were still homeless and unable to get basics like food and medical care.

He and his colleagues -- former RAF technician Clive Francis, of Brize Norton, water rescue technician Steve Butcher, of Henley, and scientist and marine unit operator Ray Goodwin, of Benson -- started helping just hours after arriving at Colombo Airport.

Within days, they were taken to Galle -- the site of one of the worst train derailments caused by the tsunami -- where hundreds of passengers' bodies had already been found, but many more were lodged in the deep muddy waters left by the disaster.

Mr Foo said: "When we arrived it was just a sheer mass of devastation. The train track was literally wrapped around palm trees. The force of the water had ripped it up around the trees.

"About 1,000 people were killed in the derailment. We knew there were more bodies, but couldn't bring them up out of the marsh. It's sad to say, but babies would float up if they were disturbed in the mud.

"We were very equipped to deal with the conditions we found, but we ran out of body bags."

Despite the destruction, Mr Foo was touched by the warmth and friendliness his team experienced throughout their £4,500 mission.

He said: "But pretty much every single person we met was kind and would say thank you, and children would always say hello."

Osar has been set up for three years.

The charity is hoping to send another team to the tsunami disaster area, following this week's earthquake in Nias.