Tributes have been pouring in for a Friern Barnet family this week, after it emerged that a mother had lost her two sons, husband and parents to the giant waves which struck Sri Lanka on Boxing Day.

Dr Sonali Deraniyagala, 40, is her family's sole survivor from the Asian tsunami, which swept away her husband Dr Steve Lissenburgh, sons Nikhil and Vikram, and parents Edward and Gemini Deraniyagala, as they enjoyed a holiday on the Sri Lankan coast.

Friends and relatives were informed of the news last week, and Holly Park School, in Bellevue Road, Friern Barnet, where Nikhil, five, and Vikram, seven, were pupils, held an emotional assembly last Wednesday to tell the boys' friends and classmates of the loss.

The school has set up a collection for the survivors of the disaster, and its Barnabas choir will be singing at the artsdepot's charity concert for the tsunami appeal on February 8.

Headteacher Linda Hellier said: "They are a lovely family and we are very upset."

A statement from the school spoke of the sadness felt by all, and revealed Barnet Council was offering counselling.

"Holly Park School and Barnet Council have been deeply saddened by the news that two of its pupils were involved in the tsunami disaster in Sri Lanka last week," it read.

"Vikram and Nikhil were two very popular members of the school and will be greatly missed by everyone, especially their classmates and teachers."

Tribute was paid to Dr Lissenburgh, a researcher at the Policy Studies Institute, by his colleague Michael White.

"He wanted to make a difference, and he did make a difference. With more time, he would have made a great difference," he said.

Dr Deraniyagala, a lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies, who was with her family when the waves struck, has yet to return home. She is currently being cared for by relatives in her native Sri Lanka.

She had been found alive miles from their hotel, after having been carried inland by the raging torrent.

The bodies of Dr Deraniyagala's parents and Vikram have been found, although relatives have all but given up hope of finding Nikhil and Dr Lissenburgh alive.