Updated

A British teacher has been dubbed a hero after he led his students to higher ground just moments before their school was obliterated by a tsunami in Japan.

Robert Bailey, 27, told how he was "terrified" but had a duty to keep the teenagers safe.

He had just eight minutes to get the class of 42 students to safety.

"We first heard a weird cracking noise, then came the violent shaking," he said, describing the moment the earthquake struck on March 11.

"I ushered the students outside on to the baseball field so they wouldn't be hit by falling debris."

Bailey, who lived in Ofunato with his Japanese wife Mai for four years, said the coastal town's emergency response sirens then sounded a warning that a tsunami was imminent.

The teacher described how he looked out to sea and saw a "wall of mist".

"This must have been the spray from the tsunami, but it looked so awesome and strange," he said.

Click here for more about this hero teacher from Sky News.