CHENNAI: She instantly dropped her catch of the day and began running towards her house where her mother was alone with her four children. "I was running and screaming at my mother to carry the children," says Anjamma. Then the wave was upon her. "I lost my consciousness and I remembered waking up near my neighbour's house. There was rubble on me."
Anjamma saw her neighbour's daughter's hands dangling near the rubble and she pulled her out; the girl was alive. Next, she limped toward the remains of her home. Only one of her four children was there. The rest of them had been washed away with her mother in the tsunami. "I only found my daughter Sowjanya lying there, unconscious, without clothes," says Anjamma. She found the body of her four-year-old daughter, Sandhya, on the street and those of her remaining two children, Sharmili and Akhilan, in the hospital.
The three children were buried in a mass burial ground in Tharangambadi in erstwhile Nagapattinam district, the worst hit region in Tamil Nadu. A 9.1 magnitude submarine earthquake in the Indian Ocean zone triggered a massive tsunami that wrecked India's East coast.
It was December 26, 2004.
At least 10,749 people in India were killed, leaving several families homeless and some victims without a trace. According to the then Thanjavur district collector K Radhakrishnan, Tamil Nadu alone accounted for around 7,900 of the dead. And Anjamma's district was the worst hit: "6,065 were from Nagapattinam which accounted for 75% of the deaths in the state," says Radhakrishnan.
Family torn apart Anjamma, along with her husband Ayyadurai and daughter Sowjanya, was relocated to a house allotted for tsunami survivors in Tharangambadi. "Sowjanya swallowed too much water in the tsunami but she somehow survived. But, her entire body has been bloated and swollen since then and she could never be healthy," says Anjamma.
この記事は Hindustan Times Uttarakhand の December 26, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Hindustan Times Uttarakhand の December 26, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Nagal Continues To Stay Away From Davis Cup
India's singles No. 1 Sumit Nagal continues to remain absent from national duty as his name was missing from the team's upcoming Davis Cup World Group I play-off tie against Togo, to be held in New Delhi in February.
Back in hockey, Ward hopes to shine in HIL
Sam Ward can easily be spotted on a hockey turf, wading past defenders as a skater would glide on ice, but what really sets the 33-year-old apart is his mask.
Tough beginning for world No. 1 Carlsen; Raunak stuns Firouzja
World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen had a torrid start to the World Rapid and Blitz Championship, losing in one round and escaping with draws in two others to end Day 1 of the rapid event at 2.5/5 in New York.
Jayasuriya aims to make SL cricket happening again
Yet, his impact is already evident.
With a bit of luck and lots of faith, you can get back to scoring big runs: Smith
You are one of the best batters on the planet and then, the centuries dry up. That's how fickle form can sometimes be.
Rohit's insipid captaincy lets Australia take control
It was a slow trudge out, with head bowed, for India's captain Rohit Sharma. The imagery just fit. He had just been dismissed for 3, trying to play a tentative pull shot that was a cross between something you play in gully cricket and how a tailender usually responds to a short ball.
Renuka and Deepti star as India women sweep ODI series vs WI
Renuka Thakur and Deepti Sharma delivered a bowling masterclass to trounce West Indies by five wickets and seal a dominant victory in the third and final ODI of the series at the Kotambi Stadium, Vadodara on Friday.
Azerbaijan Airlines 'Thought the Plane Would Fall Apart' Plane Crashed Due to 'External Interference'
The Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan this week suffered physical \"external interference\", the airline and Azerbaijan's transport minister said, on Friday, citing preliminary results of an investigation, adding to speculation it was hit by a Russian air defense system.
Rupee Falls to Record Low as Dollar Bids Spike
The rupee fell to an all-time low on Friday, as maturing non-deliverable forwards and currency futures boosted dollar demand, while the sharp fall led to panic dollar buying by importers.
Israel Burns the Last Functioning Hospital in Gaza
Israeli troops stormed one of the last hospitals operating in northern Gaza, on Friday, igniting fires and forcing many staff and patients outside to strip in winter weather, the territory's health ministry said.