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Oman storm kills Indian, 8 missing
At least 12 people, including an Indian, were killed when cyclone Gonu battered Oman's coast with fierce winds and torrential rains on Thursday. As many as nine other Indian nationals were among the many people, who have been reported missing after the storm.
India's charge de affairs at Muscat, JK tripathi, has confirmed one Indian death. He said the Indian was among a group of people who were caught in the rubble of a factory that collapsed due to the cyclone. The deceased has been identified as Prakasan, hailing from Kerala.
The Indian Embassy is trying to collect more data on the missing Indians. The embassy in Muscat is also trying to get in touch with the Indian community in various parts of Oman to ascertain their safety. There are around 3,86,000 Indians living in Oman.
The cyclone forced thousands of people out of their homes and shut down oil installations before heading towards the world's most important crude oil tanker route.
The storm ? a rarity in the West Asia ? continued a weakening trend and by Thursday dawn it had dropped off to tropical storm strength in Oman, according to the US military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
The center projected Gonu to continue to decline in power as it headed toward landfall on the southeastern Iranian coast late Thursday. But it was likely to spare Iran's offshore oil installations that lie more than 200 km to the west, the center and oil officials said.
On Wednesday, the storm unleashed sheets of rainfall in Muscat and howling winds rarely seen in the quiet seaside capital. Police and emergency vehicles could hardly move through the flooded streets and authorities used text messages to warn people to move away from low-lying areas.
A separate Control Room has been established at the Indian embassy to collect and provide information on the situation. The telephone numbers of the Embassy Control Room for public enquiry are: 00968-24813838 and 00968-24812936. The fax number of the embassy is 00968-24811607.
India's Ministry of External Affairs has also set up a control room in Delhi and the phone number of the Control Room is 011-23015300.
The storm, however, largely spared Oman's relatively small oilfields. But raging seas prevented tankers from sailing from Omani ports, effectively shutting down the country's oil exports, Nasser bin Khamis al-Jashimi of the Ministry of Oil and Gas said.
Authorities have closed all operations at the port of Sohar and evacuated 11,000 workers, port spokesman Dirk Jan De Vink said.
To the north, the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates suspended all refueling and ship-to-ship supply operations at the world's third-largest shipping fuel centre. Ships were allowed to berth, but other activities were halted, causing a delay in loading oil tankers, officials said.
India's charge de affairs at Muscat, JK tripathi, has confirmed one Indian death. He said the Indian was among a group of people who were caught in the rubble of a factory that collapsed due to the cyclone. The deceased has been identified as Prakasan, hailing from Kerala.
The Indian Embassy is trying to collect more data on the missing Indians. The embassy in Muscat is also trying to get in touch with the Indian community in various parts of Oman to ascertain their safety. There are around 3,86,000 Indians living in Oman.
The cyclone forced thousands of people out of their homes and shut down oil installations before heading towards the world's most important crude oil tanker route.
The storm ? a rarity in the West Asia ? continued a weakening trend and by Thursday dawn it had dropped off to tropical storm strength in Oman, according to the US military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
The center projected Gonu to continue to decline in power as it headed toward landfall on the southeastern Iranian coast late Thursday. But it was likely to spare Iran's offshore oil installations that lie more than 200 km to the west, the center and oil officials said.
On Wednesday, the storm unleashed sheets of rainfall in Muscat and howling winds rarely seen in the quiet seaside capital. Police and emergency vehicles could hardly move through the flooded streets and authorities used text messages to warn people to move away from low-lying areas.
A separate Control Room has been established at the Indian embassy to collect and provide information on the situation. The telephone numbers of the Embassy Control Room for public enquiry are: 00968-24813838 and 00968-24812936. The fax number of the embassy is 00968-24811607.
India's Ministry of External Affairs has also set up a control room in Delhi and the phone number of the Control Room is 011-23015300.
The storm, however, largely spared Oman's relatively small oilfields. But raging seas prevented tankers from sailing from Omani ports, effectively shutting down the country's oil exports, Nasser bin Khamis al-Jashimi of the Ministry of Oil and Gas said.
Authorities have closed all operations at the port of Sohar and evacuated 11,000 workers, port spokesman Dirk Jan De Vink said.
To the north, the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates suspended all refueling and ship-to-ship supply operations at the world's third-largest shipping fuel centre. Ships were allowed to berth, but other activities were halted, causing a delay in loading oil tankers, officials said.
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