A YORK graduate who helped revive a war-torn area of Sri Lanka died in the Asian tsunami disaster, it has emerged.

Philip Nicholas, 53, who was at the University of York with current Chancellor and former BBC Director-General Greg Dyke in the early 1970s, perished in a coastal village where he had stimulated much-needed jobs and prosperity.

He was chatting on the internet in his room at a hotel in Arugam Bay when the tidal wave struck with so much force that his body was later found seven kilometres inland. Mr Dyke spoke today of his sadness that a fellow graduate had died in the tsunami.

He said: "Although our paths never crossed at the university, my sympathy goes out to his family and close friends.

"And, of course, it is a very sad time for those who worked with and remember him at the university."

A university spokesman said: "We were saddened to hear of Philip's death.

"He is fondly remembered by his contemporaries at York for his wit and irrepressible character."

The Vanbrugh College student, originally from Guildford, fell on to the wrong side of the law after graduating with a philosophy degree and spent nearly six years behind bars for drug-related offences.

After being released, he became a successful businessman and later embarked on a life-changing quest in Sri Lanka, setting up a computer business which has stimulated much needed jobs and prosperity to a region which had suffered from years of bitter civil war. He is said to have given employment to countless Sri Lankans without any qualifications, as long as they could muster some enthusiasm.

As a result, he earned a reputation for "employing the unemployable", according to close friend of 25 years John Pollet, 42.

Manju C, one of the Sri Lankans helped by him, said: "Phil was very good as a person and went to great lengths to help others.

"I do not know anybody who wants to help the community genuinely as he did. He's not even a local. That's very rare."

Family and friends have revealed that Philip's body will not return to Britain, but will be cremated in Sri Lanka, and his ashes scattered in the village he had helped.

Philip leaves a sister, Jenny Nicholas, 55, who was planning to visit him in Sri Lanka.

Malaria could kill up to 100,000 people in coming months across Indian Ocean communities devastated by the tsunami if authorities do not quickly move to kill mosquitoes, a health expert warned today.

Richard Allan, director of the Mentor Initiative, said health agencies were planning to launch a massive spraying campaign in Indonesia today to kill mosquitoes that carry the deadly disease.

Updated: 11:13 Friday, January 14, 2005