AN AID worker from North Yorkshire who spent a lifetime helping people in Asia and Africa, and who survived an earthquake which killed an estimated 100,000 people in China, died when the tsunami struck an isolated Thai island, it emerged today.

Robin Needham, 51, was on holiday with his wife, Lucy, and their four children when the giant wave devastated Koh Phra Thong, an island off the coast of southern Thailand.

Colleagues confirmed today that Mr Needham, who was brought up in Helmsley, where his mother Jan still lives, lost his life in the disaster.

They said that his family has been safely evacuated from the island and that a thanksgiving service will be held later this year in his North Yorkshire home town.

Mr Needham had devoted his life to helping deprived and poor Asian people and was the founder of CARE UK. He had been the country director of CARE Nepal for the past seven years.

Dr Balaram Thapa, of CARE Nepal, said he gave all his "talents and energy" to development activities in Nepal in the areas of health, resource management, women's rights and emergency relief.

He said: "Under his charismatic leadership CARE Nepal has reached hundreds of thousands of deprived and poor people of rural area of Nepal through its programmes.

"He was known as a passionate humanitarian, an outstanding leader, a deeply committed development professional and a great friend of Nepal.

"He was known to provide relief and support, in a personal capacity, to many disabled and underprivileged children in many rural areas of Nepal".

Mr Needham travelled widely in his career and some of his letters home were published in the Evening Press's sister paper, the Gazette & Herald.

In one article, he described how he survived the massive Tangshan earthquake which struck China in 1976 while he was studying in the capital, Beijing.

The earthquake measured 8.2 on the Richter scale, compared with the 9.0 undersea quake that devastated countries surrounding the Indian Ocean 12 days ago.

Mr Needham's widow and their four children, Nathaniel, Robert, Sonali and Rupali, have since been evacuated from Golden Buddha Beach, the island's main resort.

After being brought up in Helmsley, at the age of 18 Mr Needham travelled overland to India in 1971, where he spent several months working in Salt Lake refugee camp, Calcutta.

He started working with CARE in 1980 in Thailand. In his 24 years he held several positions in countries including Thailand, Somalia, Kenya, United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Nepal.

Mr Needham was also the chairman of the Association of International NGOs (AIN) in Nepal, and helped increase coordination among its 52 members in an effort to support development activities.

Mr Needham and his family returned to Helmsley on many occasions to stay with his mother, who lives in Castlegate, and to visit family and friends.

Updated: 10:35 Thursday, January 06, 2005