17 rescued after 11 days from remote Andaman isle

Thanks to the heroic efforts of two teenaged boys, 17 people, who had taken shelter in a hilly area in a remote island in the Andaman and Ni...

Thanks to the heroic efforts of two teenaged boys, 17 people, who had taken shelter in a hilly area in a remote island in the Andaman and Nicobar, were rescued by the Armed Forces 11 days after the disaster.

The two boys, whose names were not not available, walked long distances in West bay in Katchal island and found the 17 who had survived on bananas and coconuts in the hilly forested area, Information and Broadcasting secretary Navin Chawla told reporters today, quoting reports reaching here from Port Blair.

After spotting the marooned people, the teenagers took the help of the Air Force and the Navy to rescue them. They are now lodged in a relief camp.

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Chawla put the number of lives lost in the December 26 killer tidal wave catastrophe in the country at 9,995 and those still missing at 5,689.

Replying to questions, he said the government would continue with the exercise to locate missing persons for “another day or two” as people were being found in isolated areas, especially in the islands. “Let us not not have a finality to it at present,” he said.

According to official figure, the death toll in Andaman and Nicobar islands is 1196, Andhra Pradesh 105, Kerala 170, Tamil Nadu 7941 and Pondicherry 583.

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