Photo 7 of 17

Compare this 2002 scene of the bus station, taken from the Galle Fort ramparts, with the late Dec. 2004 devastation in the images of the same location from a different angle, shown immediately below. In the middle distance (above) can be seen the light-grey twin towers of St. Mary's (R.C.) Cathedral, where at present (late 2004) hundreds of homeless survivors are gathered, dependent on the priests and nuns for emotional and material support while foreign aid trucks and other relief workers battle their way down the coast from Colombo. All rail and main road connections along this stretch of southern coastline with the main city have been destroyed, and an entire train (the "Queen of the Sea") heading towards Galle from Colombo was washed away by the sea, with over 850 passengers reported lost...the greatest rail disaster in history, apparently