Tidal Waves Roll Over Island

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30633, 26 December 1964, Page 13

Tidal Waves Roll Over Island

(NZ. Press Association—Copyright) MADRAS (India), December 25. Tidal waves which battered the island of Rameshwaran on the south-eastern coast of India on Tuesday caused heavy casualties and extensive property damage.

Reports said 500 persons were feared to have died and hundreds more were injured when the giant seas swept over the island. At least 300 persons were reported killed in Ceylon's north and eastern provinces by a cyclone on Tuesday, according to reports from Colombo. The reports said it was the worst cyclone disaster in Ceylon’s history. Most of the victims on Rameshwaram were trapped in a customs shed at the port of Dhanuskodi, according to the report. Ferry Terminus Dhanuskodi, on the southeastern coast of India, is a terminus for the ferry between India and Ceylon. The victims apparently were inundated in the dock area as the water rushed in without warning. A railway linking Dhanuskodi to the adjacent island of Rameshwaram was washed out. More than 1000 persons were marooned at Rameshwaram. the site of a wellknown Hindu shrine. Authorities rushed aid to the scene of the disaster. An air-drop of food packets to Rameshwaram was organised. Heavy rains accompanied the storm. Rescues Foiled Rescue attempts were foiled by bad weather across South India, but Indian Air Force planes -were scheduled to try to land on Rameshwaram again today. The cyclone, the Indian Ocean equivalent of a hurricane or typhoon, caused heavy damage on the northern and eastern coasts of Ceylon, but no deaths were reported from the flattened plantations and mangled buildings. Two Ceylonese Navy vessels were sunk. One passenger was killed and 13 others injured when the engine and four carriages of an express train overturned on a rain-eroded track 22 miles from Madura. Passengers from the train said it was possible the bodies

of other passengers may have been washed away from the scene by flood waters. Passengers trapped in the upturned carriages were rescued by a group of Army men travelling in the train. The Ceylon Air Force and Navy have been asked to search for some 100 fishing boats, each with a crew of about three, missing since the 100 m.p.h. storm lashed the island's northern and eastern coasts yesterday.