A teenager killed in a tragic car crash had survived the tsunami disaster of 2004 by fleeing with his family.

Billy Cooney, 19, suffered fatal injuries at 5am on Thursday when his Vauxhall Corsa ploughed into a barrier on the A627M at the Elk Mill roundabout in Oldham.

He was taken to the Royal Oldham Hospital but died a short time later.

His heartbroken parents Mark, 43, and Jayne, 45, speaking at their home in Failsworth, revealed Billy cheated death along with them and sister Vanessa, 24, when the tsunami devastated Asia on Boxing Day, 2004.

The family were enjoying the sunshine on Ko Phi Phi island in Thailand when the natural disaster – which killed more than 200,000 people in the region – struck.

Mark said: Mark said: “We looked out and the sea had disappeared.

Read more: Manchester Evening News