Thousands missing, homeless after storm

AT least 800 people remained missing in southern India yesterday and hundreds of fishermen were unaccounted for in Bangladesh after a severe storm in the Bay of Bengal killed 50 people, officials said.

Indian authorities said about 100,000 people were homeless after heavy rains this week caused floods in the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh state, with strong winds uprooting thousands of trees and electricity poles.

They had earlier said more than 1,000 people were missing in the state, including scores of fishermen, but some of them had returned to shore.