The unidentified tourist called her parents to tell them she escaped unhurt from the disastrous quake and tidal waves which killed thousands across south Asia, her mother Anna Kobus told PAP news agency.

On Phuket "her hotel was flooded up to the first floor. Everyone who had left for the beach died. Luckily, she and her friend had just minutes before gone up to their room on the fourth floor," Kobus said.

"That saved them."

The Polish foreign ministry said up to 2,000 Poles were in the region hit by the quake, but none of its nationals were victims, a spokesman said.

A ministry spokesman told AFP two Polish men each aged 24, in the Andaman Islands in the Gulf of Bengal which were battered by a five metre (16 feet) high tidal wave, had been found alive against all expectations.

"Polish diplomats in Sri Lanka suffered damage to property but emerged safe and sound," he said.

"We're in constant touch with staff in the region," the official said: "According to what they have been able to gather, in tourist areas affected by tidal waves there are no Poles among the victims."