A cyclone raging along the western edge of India swept salt workers out to sea and crushed a workers' hostel at an oil refinery, killing up to 400 people, officials said yesterday. At least 376 deaths were reported in Gujarat, which took the full fury of the cyclone when it struck land early on Tuesday. The toll is expected to rise.
About 150 people were still missing last night, and relief workers were unable to reach remote villages. Hundreds of thousands are homeless.
Some 2,500 soldiers were called in to help restore communications. The port of Kandla, where more than 100 died when 12ft tidal waves trapped workers gathering salt crystals in shallow water, suffered an estimated pounds £70 million damage and is likely to be closed for two months.
"The worst hit were the salt factory workers in Kandla. They are very poor people and didn't understand the gravity of the warnings to stay away from the coast," said Mr Kuntan Sanghvi, an official in Ahmedabad, the Gujarat state capital.
The cyclone, India's worst in 25 years, was moving northwards with diminishing force through the state of Rajasthan, where it claimed nine lives.
In Pakistan 12 people were reported killed in Karachi. Most were electrocuted by live wires blown down on to busy roads.