100 fishermen missing as Cyclone Giri strikes

Over a hundred fishermen with 21 boats went missing from the northeastern reaches of the Bay of Bengal after cyclone Giri hit Myanmar and Bangladesh, authorities said today.

Over a hundred fishermen with 21 boats went missing from the northeastern reaches of the Bay of Bengal after cyclone Giri hit Myanmar and Bangladesh, authorities said on Saturday.

HT Image

The cyclone hit Myanmar's southern coast of Sittwe around 8:00 pm on Friday, triggering storms, rains and huge tidal surges in Saint Martin's island and other parts of Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh.

With tidal surges hitting seven to eight metres above normal water level, people of St Martin's island and Teknaf moved to safer shelters, The Daily Star reported on Saturday.

A weather warning broadcast on Myanmar's state television described cyclone Giri as a "very strong" storm and urged people living in coastal areas in Rakhine state to move to safety.

The storm was packing winds of about 177 km an hour at its centre, with gusts of up to 193kph, said the alert issued by Myanmar's department of meteorology.

Sea levels could rise by 3.7 metres, it said.