Thiruvananthapuram: Three more people were reported killed in Kerala on Sunday in the wake of the Ockhi cyclone, taking the death toll in the state to 10.
The deceased included A Pavithran, 50 who lost his life when a high mast light post fell on him in Ayikkara near Kannur, and Rickson, 45, whose body was found in a water body at Chellanam near Kochi.
Search operations continued for dozens of fishermen from different parts of the state who were still out in the sea, with no information about their locations. Personnel from the Indian Navy and the National Disaster Response Force were leading the search and rescue operations.
State chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced an ex-gratia of Rs1 million to the families of each of the deceased, and Rs20,000 each to those injured in the tropical cyclone. The injured will also be treated free at government hospitals.
The impact of the cyclone has been most severe along the coastal districts, particularly Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kochi, Malappuram and Kozhikode, and more than 30 temporary camps have been arranged to shelter over 500 families in different parts of the state.
There were intermittent protests by local people in Thiruvananthapuram district, including one in Thumba, against alleged delay in rescuing fishermen still out in the sea and on the missing list.
One concern for the authorities was the decision of some fishermen to disregard warning signals not to venture into the sea. Many fishermen decided to go out to sea on their own to try and find their missing colleagues even as authorities requested them to leave the search and rescue efforts to the Navy and NDRF personnel.