By IANS
New Delhi : Four more Indians have died in Cyclone Gonu that hit the gulf state of Oman last week, taking the toll to six, Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed said Sunday.
The bodies of four Indians – Prithvi Pal Singh and Prempal Singh from Punjab, Anil Kumar of Palakkad in Kerala and Sarawana Kumar Pillai have been found, he said.
The massive cyclone hit Oman, home to 386,000 Indians, early last week, before diverting to Iran.
"I spoke to the inspector general of police of Oman, Malik Bin Sulaiman Mumary, and he along with India's Charge d'Affairs J.K. Tripathy made an aerial survey of the areas with a concentration of Indians. Three camps have been set up for Indians and all assistance is being given to them," Ahamed told IANS.
The government decided to waive for a month the charge of 30 Omanese Riyal collected from those in Oman applying for duplicate passports.
"Many people have lost their passports and so we have decided to waive off the charge for a month," Ahamed said.
Earlier, two deaths – of Prakash from Mysore in Karnataka and Pokkan Sreenu from East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh – were confirmed by authorities.
Among those missing after the tragedy are Sajit Kumar of Calicut, Kerala, Udayan from Guruvayur of the same state, Sami from Andhra Pradesh, Mohammed Ali and Binu, both from Ernakulam in Kerala.
The name of another missing person from Punjab was not yet known. Two other Indians, Dharmarajan and Mohammed Abdul Rahim – both from Andhra Pradesh, were injured in the storm.