Locals failed to get warning issued to many hotel guests

It will be a long time before picnickers dare walk, let alone swim, at Miami Beach - a 100-metre stretch of white sand that is a favourite with locals and where many of the dozens killed were frolicking when the tsunami struck.

Trees have been felled and dead fish and debris litter the Batu Ferringhi area, which is about 8km from Penang town centre. Except for helicopters that hover above and police personnel combing the debris for 26 missing picnickers, Miami Beach is deserted and will probably remain so for a long time.

'It was a massive wave,' said boat operator Michael Alexander, 33, who was carried 20 metres by the wave but survived the ordeal without serious injury. 'One minute people were jumping about and the next they were swept away.'

Minutes before disaster, a smaller wave had dumped hundreds of fish on the beach and picnickers were jumping about catching them when the larger wave struck.

'I was watching a line of white foam on the horizon when there was a roar. Suddenly a wall of water smashed into us,' Mr Alexander said. 'I tried to rescue people but instead ended up retrieving bodies.'

Beach boy Mustakim Yakup said: 'Some people thought the foam was dolphins. I dare not go there anymore ... few locals will go to Miami Beach again.'

Elsewhere on the island, life was gradually getting back to normal.