Teknaf, Bangladesh: Eighteen Arakanese Rohingya drowned while they were crossing the Burma-Bangladesh border in a row boat, which capsized in Naf River on May 19, said an Arakanese Rohingya elder in Teknaf.
The row boat was small and was over loaded. The river was rough and there were strong gusts of winds. The helmsman could not control the boat. A cyclonic storm warning in the area was given by the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, the elder said.
But, the Burmese authorities did not stop the Arakanese Rohingya from crossing the river for income and also because the agent wanted money to grease the palms of officials, the elder added.
Eight children, six women and four men died. The authorities of both the countries did not take any action, said a local from Teknaf.
The boat came from the Mingalagyi Burmese border security force (Nasaka) camp area and the agents were Syed Alam and Abbas.
Bangladesh authorities in May 18, alerted ports and coastal residents of an approaching depression in the southeast central Bay of Bengal which would turn into a cyclonic storm. "The deep depression over southeast and adjoining areas of the Bay of Bengal moved slightly northwestwards and intensified into cyclonic storm Laila on May 18," said the Bangladesh Meteorological Department in a special bulletin.
Cyclone Laila hit the eastern coast of India yesterday afternoon. But just why is the cyclonic storm named Laila? The cyclones originating in the Indian Ocean are named by eight countries north of the ocean - India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Myanmar, Oman and Thailand. The procedure of naming the cyclones has been laid down by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
The eight north Indian Ocean countries have prepared a list of 64 names for the cyclones. So according to the cycle the name of the cyclone currently raging in the Bay of Bengal was given by Pakistan. Unlike Western countries, the storms in the Indian Ocean are being named since 2004 only following a meeting of the WMO and ESCAP on Tropical Cyclones in 2000. Till now 64 cyclones have been named.
