One Indian killed, 8 missing in Oman cycloneBS Reporter / New Delhi June 7, 2007Cyclone Gonu, which hit Oman today, has claimed the life of one Indian while eight others have gone missing in the desert country.The dead person has been identified as Prakash of Kerala, minister of state for external affairs E Ahmad said. Among the missing, four are from Kerala while three from Andra Pradesh. One is from Punjab.The missing people have been identified as Dharmarajan (Andhra), Sajit Kumar (Calicut, Kerala), Udayan (Guruvayur, Kerala), Sreenu (Andhra), Sami (Andhra), Mohd Ali (Ernakulam, Kerala) and Binu (Ernakulam, Kerala).The name of the missing person from Punjab is not known yet, the ministry said.There are as many as 3.86 lakh Indians working and living in the Sultanate of Oman. The Indian government has said it is trying to ascertain their safety.Oman Royal Police spokesman Abdullah al-Harthi earlier said at least 12 people were killed in the Gonu cyclone that hit Oman's coastal areas. He did not provide further details.Gonu, with winds up to 170 kilometers per hour, slammed into Oman's eastern coast. Waves up to 12 meters high lashed out at coastal towns. The local government in Oman has established a casualty bureau where the dead and injured are being tracked and further information is expected to be available from there later.Two round-the-clock control rooms have been set up -- one in External Affairs Ministry here and another in the Indian Embassy in Muscat -- to help Indian nationals in Oman.
