Twenty years after the devastating tsunami that struck South-East Asia, Natacha Amal speaks with emotion about this tragedy which turned her life upside down. Between guilt and gratitude, she tells how she experienced this cataclysm which marked History.
On December 26, 2004, a 9.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Indian Ocean, causing a devastating tidal wave that claimed more than 230,000 lives. This cataclysm, the deadliest of the 21st century, marked History and memories forever. Among the victims and survivors were hundreds of Belgian vacationers, who had come to seek the sun in Asia. For some, this idyllic vacation turned into a nightmare. Among them, Natacha Amal, then at the height of her career, today recounts her overwhelming experience in a poignant testimony.
It was so fast
“For me, it was a paradise…”she begins. “At the time, I never stopped filming. I was always asked for photo shoots for magazines”. It was with a photographer and friends that she went to Thailand to enjoy a few days of relaxation. But that day, everything changed.
She remembers: “We got on a boat to go to a small island. We found it strange, the water was opaque blue, not transparent as usual. Once on the island, we started taking photos, and we saw the ‘water rises. It’s going really fast…’. The screams, the panicked gestures, the deafening noise: every detail is engraved in his memory. “Everyone saw a very small part of this cataclysm. It was only afterwards, while watching television, when the power came back on that my vision broadened.”
Surviving: an opportunity or a burden?
“Did I deserve this chance?”the actress asked herself for more than a year. “I experienced a cataclysm that has no precedent. I can think of that with hindsight. And as a result, it calms a lot of things in my head”she concludes.
Twenty years after the tsunami, Luc Gilson returns to the heartbreaking journey of these Belgians who survived or lost loved ones in this tragedy. How are they living today with this tragedy? To be discovered this December 19 on RTL tvi and in streaming on RTL play.
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