Off-shore patrol vessel INS Sumitra of the Indian navy reached Chittagong this morning and handed over the 33 Bangladeshis rescued a day after cyclone Mora lashed the Bangladesh coast.

Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Sringla handed them over to Chittagong Deputy Commissioner DC Zillur. Indian envoy also handed over some relief material consisting mostly of food stuff, medicines and tents routinely carried by INS Sumitra while on patrol.

The off-shore patrolling vessel was in the Bay of Bengal when the cyclone struck, and launched a rescue operation to pull the 33 Bangladeshis in Moheshkhali area off Cox’s Bazar. Sources said the survivors were either from sunken boats or washed off shore by the cyclone. Some of them have been admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, the port city of Chittagong which escaped large scale damage due to cyclone Mora making landfall during low tide, is dealing with heavy water-logging due to incessant rainfall during the last 2 days. People are navigating waist-deep water to go about their daily chores. The cyclone has affected over 2.5 lakh people in 10 vulnerable districts.

Around 60,000 homes have been destroyed and property worth lakhs have been lost. Despite the highest severity of the cyclone warranting danger signal number 10, only 6 deaths have been reported due to adroit disaster management mechanisms put up by the Bangladesh government.