The Hindu : Karnataka / Bellary News : A close brush with death

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 04, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bellary

A close brush with death

By Our Staff Correspondent

BELLARY, JAN. 3. ``We had a close brush with death, and we experienced what it is,'' said Ansar Basha, a scrap merchant, who had a miraculous escape when the tsunami hit Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.

Disaster

He told presspersons here on Monday that his four-member family was in the dargah of Taheem Ansari Baba when the disaster struck.

Later, they trekked 8 km from there to reach a safe place.

Mr. Basha said that he along with his wife, Shabana Sultana, their daughter, Munira Tikhat, and son, Jainullah Abid, visit a dargah in Nellore every year.

This time, they left Bellary on December 23 and reached Nellore the next day.

Prayers

After offering prayers at the dargah, they decided to visit the dargah of Taheem Ansari Baba on the Kollam Beach, 35 km from Chennai, and reached there on December 26.

``It was 8.40 a.m. when we heard the sound of the waves hitting the coast.

"He and his family were inside the dargah along with 20 others when hundreds of people rushed into it from the beach," he said.

According to him, a large number of people visit the dargah on every full moon day.

He said that he had visited the dargah twice, but had taken his family there for the first time.

Giant waves

``The giant waves engulfed the area and wreaked a havoc. Many people were killed. Call it the grace of the God, not a drop of water entered the dargah,'' he added. At 2.30 a.m., policemen came to the dargah and asked them to vacate it immediately.

Shock

"We did not know what to do. We were yet to recover from the shock. The police told use to vacate the dargah immediately as another tsunami would hit the coast again. We were forced to walk to a village, eight km from the dargah. Many people were from Chennai. It was on our way I realised that we had a narrow escape," said.

He said that a bus was arranged to take them to the Central Railway Station in Chennai.

Relief

``After reaching Chennai, we heaved a sigh of relief. We went back to Nellore, stayed there for two more days and left for Bellary,'' Mr. Basha added.

Reported killed

Meanwhile, Narasamma, 51, and her grandson, Shayaprakash, 8, from Rayapur village in Kudligi taluk of Bellary district are reported to have been killed in the tsunami.

According to reports received here, Narasamma, along with her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren, went to Velankanni near Nagapattanam in Tamil Nadu to celebrate Christmas.

Narasamma and Shayaprakash were killed in the tsunami while others returned to Bellary, according to Ramesh, son of Narasamma.

A case has been registered in the Gudekota police station.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka

News Update

Stories in this Section

A close brush with death

Mine owner donates Rs. 5.25 lakhs for relief work