NEW YORK (AP) – Besides grateful relatives, tourists returning from Asian countries struck by the killer tsunami are likely to be met by news agency representatives hunting for video of the cataclysmic event.

“There will still be, I think, the definitive shot, the wall of water,” Sandy MacIntyre, director of news for Associated Press Television News in London, said yesterday.

American TV networks have been rushing reporters and camera crews to countries affected by the disaster. As they cover the aftermath, there’s also an intense effort to find video of the event as it happened, to convey the awesome power of the natural phenomenon.

APTN is competing fiercely with another news agency, Reuters, to acquire video. APTN producers were sent to six airports in Europe and Asia yesterday to ask tourists if they had captured the scene on their home video cameras, MacIntyre said.

CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC covered the story heavily yesterday, often running the same video clips over and over.

The most arresting shot was taken from the roof of a building at Pa Tong beach in Thailand, showing a giant wave crashing into the shore and spilling into buildings and onto streets. It was taken by an Australian tourist and acquired by an Australian television station as soon as he arrived in Sydney, said Anna Murray, an APTN news editor.

Another frequently-seen clip showed a pool overrun by a wave, with terrified sunbathers trying to run away. It was shot by a tourist in Sri Lanka, Murray said. Another shot shows a different pool being overtaken by ocean water pouring in from over a hill.

News agencies must depend on amateurs for this video. Many may still be traumatised by the event and may not realise what they caught on camera, MacIntyre said.

“Obviously there weren’t news crews staking out the beaches,” said Chuck Lustig, ABC news director of foreign news.

Like the steadily climbing death toll, the story should continue to unfold over the next several days.

“There are still places where journalists haven’t been yet – or even relief agencies and government workers,” Lustig said.