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Saturday, 22 January 2005, 23:22 GMT

India navy finds tsunami survivor

An Indian soldier stands with his face covered as a body found after 26 days of the tsunami is being cremated in the Car Nicobar island. A man has been rescued by the Indian navy 25 days after being thrown by the Indian Ocean tsunami on a remote island in the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

Michael Mangal was first sucked into the sea and then thrown back onto the shore where he survived on coconuts.

The Nicobarese tribesman is said to be exhausted but only slightly injured.

At least 1,894 people were killed by the 26 December earthquake and tsunami in the Andaman and Nicobar islands and more than 5,500 are missing.

Michael Mangal was spotted on the tiny island of Pillow Panja on Friday, the navy said.

"He was in his underwear and had used his clothes to make the flag," navy spokesman Salil Mehta told French news agency AFP.

"He was exhausted and weak when the rescue team brought him back to Port Blair," Mr Mehta said.

"He was in his underwear and had used his clothes to make the flag"
Salil Mehta
Indian navy spokesman


Mr Mangal told the rescue team he had searched "high and low" for people from his devastated village.

He said he had sat on a tree for several days and nights as he was afraid of being "swallowed by the ocean".

More than 160,000 people are known to have been killed by the tsunami and officials have warned the exact figure may never be known.

On Friday, a United Nations conference adopted a plan to reduce casualties and damage caused by natural disaster.

Delegates from around the world in the Japanese city of Kobe agreed on the need to build tsunami early warning systems and make disaster preparation a priority.

But the five-day forum failed to set specific targets or deadlines from implementing the plan.




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RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Andaman and Nicobar Administration
World Conference on Disaster Reduction
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