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Keralites highest among Gujarat cyclone victims

Of the 1,140 people who perished in the June 9 cyclone in Gujarat -- 850 of them in Kutch district alone -- between 400 to 500 were said to have been from Kerala.

With little likelihood of any more bodies now being found and as many as 1,930 "missing" persons presumed to have been washed away in high tides, the toll in the deadly cyclone-related incidents was likely to reach up to 2,780, though officially only 1,140 persons were declared dead, because their bodies had been found.

According to sources, nearly half of those who died in the Kandla Port Trust area hailed from Kerala. Many of them lived in a small basti, called Banna, on the Satsaida Island off the Kandla coast.

When the cyclone hit the coast, a ship, Udan, broke away and dumped itself on Satsaida Island. The Malayali-speaking population of the basti was believed to have been washed away or buried under this ship which was yet to be extricated, the reports added.

The coast guard ship Veera, which replaced Sangram, in the rescue and relief operation at Kandla was likely to participate in the gigantic task of removing this buried ship back to the port.

For this purpose, extensive surveys were on the anvil to ensure whether the ship, once towed to the sea, would not sink due to any possible damage or hidden holes.

Eventually, it might take a week or so to pull back the ship to the port, provided weather conditions remained favourable, coast guard sources said.

Meanwhile, the control room set up at Gandhidham to provide information and oversee other relief-related activities was likely to be wound up soon, the reports added.

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