Centre to send team of experts to assess impact on isle tribals

Officials said that the waves have affected Onges, a tribe of 100 people who inhabit Dungong Creek. They said at least 40 people have been rescued so far. But, admitted the officials, there is no information on the Shompens and the Sentinelese.

Army medical team ready to fly to Lanka

CHENNAI: A team of Indian Army personnel, mostly from the medical field, is ready to fly to Sri Lanka, General Officer Commanding, Southern Command, Lt. General Balraj Singh said on Wednesday. After holding talks with senior Army officers here on the Army’s relief work, Singh said that 136 Army personnel were waiting at Bhopal to be airlifted to Sri Lanka.

Powell calls up Natwar to discuss crisis

NEW DELHI: US Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke to External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh on Wednesday. The two agreed to remain in constant touch on the situation. According to the MEA spokesperson, Powell and Singh discussed the extent of the tragedy and emphasised the need for quick and coordinated action to meet the humanitarian challenge.

Kid found alive near mother’s body

COLACHAL (TN): A two-year-old child was found alive beside the body of her mother in a graveyard near Periyavila village near here, three days after she was believed to have been swallowed by the killer waves . The child was taken to the government hospital at Nagercoil, where she is now being nursed back to health by doctors, official sources here said. The child was found by people who had been to the graveyard to bury the dead bodies recovered on Tuesday.

Aftershocks rattle Andaman and Nicobar

NEW DELHI: Andaman and Nicobar Islands continued to be rattled by earthquakes with a series of strong aftershocks measuring between 5.1 and 6.1 on the Richter scale being recorded since Tuesday night in the region already devastated by Sunday’s temblor and tsunami tidal waves.

— ENS & PTI