Cyclone Mekunu lashes Oman, Yemen; 5 dead
Indians, Yemenis and Sudanese were among those missing in the cyclone and officials feared some may be dead.
Salalah (Oman): Cyclone Mekunu blew into Arabian Peninsula early on Saturday, drenching arid Oman and Yemen, cutting off power lines and leaving at least five dead and 40 missing, officials said.
Portions of Salalah, Oman’s third-largest city, lost electricity as the cyclone made landfall. The Arabian Sea churned on Saturday morning, sending mounds of sea foam into the air. The waves ate into one tourist beach, and toppled thatch umbrellas cemented into the sand. As Mekunu barreled overhead, the eye of the storm provided a moment’s respite.
Five people, including a 12-year-old girl, died in Oman, and 40 others are missing from the Yemeni island of Socotra, which earlier took the storm's brunt, police said. Yemenis, Indians and Sudanese were among those missing and officials feared some may be dead.