Kerala - Kochi   

Pilgrims start returning from Velankanni

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, DEC. 27 . Waves of shock have not receded from the mind of K.L. Antony of Thevara. "Bodies of children were scattered everywhere... even those of infants...," he said.

Mr. Antony, who was in a pilgrim group that set out for Velankanni from the St. Jude Church, Thevara, on Saturday, returned today. But two members of the group, a man and his son, are still missing.

"We started around 4 p.m. on Saturday and reached Velankanni by morning," Mr. Antony recalls. "We left in two buses. Our bus reached only by 6.30 a.m. on Sunday. The other bus had reached earlier." The pilgrim group had booked rooms in a lodge near the beach.

Mr. Antony, along with some others went to the market to buy provisions. Usually, they cook food in the room and go to the church only in the afternoon.

After shopping, some of them returned to the room. Mr. Antony and a couple of friends stayed back for having tender coconut water. It was then that they noticed a cow running amuck. Soon, they saw people too running to safety.

Upsurge of waves

"By that time, we could see a huge wall of waves surging in from the distance. Some how, we managed to reach the lodge. Fortunately, all others in our group were there. We waited till the waves subsided and tried to find a way out."

Mr. Antony remembers the ghastly scenes at the holy township. Bodies were lying everywhere. The waters washed in about four feet of mud.

Most of the victims were children, Mr. Antony said.

The bus, which was completely submerged, could be started only after pushing it for a long distance. The water level in the streets rose to the hip-level, he said.

The pilgrim party reached Ernakulam in the morning. The bus belongs to Puthenpurakkal Travels, Aluva. He denied reports that the bus had been destroyed.

Miraculous escape

The family of Shaji Davis Vithayathil had a miraculous escape. A businessman based in Tripunithura, Mr. Vithayathil had gone to Velankanni with his wife and three sons.

They were about to attend the Malayalam mass when the tsunami struck. Mr. Vithayathil and his wife ran towards the road with the children.

A car driver reached them to safety. All of them reached Kochi by evening today.

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