Tsunami hits South India
Anybody from these areas?
Anybody from these areas?
At least 74 people were killed and 400 fishermen feared missing after a tsunami hit the southern Indian coast early on Sunday, police and government officials said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh voiced concern at the disaster and asked Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran to visit affected areas to supervise rescue and relief work, the prime minister's spokesman said.
The tsunami swept the coasts of the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and crashed into neighbouring Sri Lanka after a powerful earthquake in the Indian Ocean.
"The PM has alerted the navy and India has offered all assistance to Sri Lanka, including deployment of navy for rescue and relief," the spokesman said.
Off Andhra Pradesh, about 400 fishermen were feared missing, the chief secretary of the state, Mohan Kanda, told Reuters.
Tremors lasting less than a minute were felt shortly before 7:00 a.m. and the sea water began rising soon afterwards, washing away beach houses on the Madras coast and crashing onto the road in some parts.
"I felt like I was on a train. I turned around and I saw that a small glass table with a flower vase was shaking," said Madras resident Rajani Unni.
"We saw people rushing away from fishermen colonies lining the beach. Women were wailing and crying."
Some bodies had already been recovered.
"Thirty-four are dead and 14 are admitted in hospital," said an official at the Government Royapettah Hospital in Chennai, formerly known as Madras and the capital of Tamil Nadu state.
Ten more bodies were found in Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh and another 10 in Machalipatnam district, taking the total death toll in the state to 40, said Usha Rani, municipal commissioner of the city of Vijaywada.
The navy and Coast Guard have begun search operations for fishermen who were at sea, officials said.
"Panic evacuation in the low-lying areas of Vishakapatnam city has caused major traffic disruption and snapped communication lines," Usha Rani said.
Police in Tamil Nadu said about 2,000 fishermen had been evacuated from Elliot's Beach area in Madras and most of the dead were fishermen.
At Elliot's Beach in Madras, 200 police had been deployed for rescue operations.
Among worst-hit areas was an industrial belt in northern Madras that is home to automobile, industrial and chemical factories, another official said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh voiced concern at the disaster and asked Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran to visit affected areas to supervise rescue and relief work, the prime minister's spokesman said.
The tsunami swept the coasts of the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and crashed into neighbouring Sri Lanka after a powerful earthquake in the Indian Ocean.
"The PM has alerted the navy and India has offered all assistance to Sri Lanka, including deployment of navy for rescue and relief," the spokesman said.
Off Andhra Pradesh, about 400 fishermen were feared missing, the chief secretary of the state, Mohan Kanda, told Reuters.
Tremors lasting less than a minute were felt shortly before 7:00 a.m. and the sea water began rising soon afterwards, washing away beach houses on the Madras coast and crashing onto the road in some parts.
"I felt like I was on a train. I turned around and I saw that a small glass table with a flower vase was shaking," said Madras resident Rajani Unni.
"We saw people rushing away from fishermen colonies lining the beach. Women were wailing and crying."
Some bodies had already been recovered.
"Thirty-four are dead and 14 are admitted in hospital," said an official at the Government Royapettah Hospital in Chennai, formerly known as Madras and the capital of Tamil Nadu state.
Ten more bodies were found in Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh and another 10 in Machalipatnam district, taking the total death toll in the state to 40, said Usha Rani, municipal commissioner of the city of Vijaywada.
The navy and Coast Guard have begun search operations for fishermen who were at sea, officials said.
"Panic evacuation in the low-lying areas of Vishakapatnam city has caused major traffic disruption and snapped communication lines," Usha Rani said.
Police in Tamil Nadu said about 2,000 fishermen had been evacuated from Elliot's Beach area in Madras and most of the dead were fishermen.
At Elliot's Beach in Madras, 200 police had been deployed for rescue operations.
Among worst-hit areas was an industrial belt in northern Madras that is home to automobile, industrial and chemical factories, another official said.