View of the aftermath of a massive cyclone and accompanying tidal wave (on November 12) shows a villager dragging a corpse through the mud, East Pakistan (later Bangladesh), late 1970. The official death toll for the disaster was more...More
View of the aftermath of a massive cyclone and accompanying tidal wave (on November 12) shows villagers dragging a corpse outof a river bank near the village of Char Jubille, East Pakistan (later Bangladesh), late 1970. The official death toll for the disaster was more than 500,000 casualties.
December 01, 1970 License
1970 Bhola Cyclone
Credit:
Express Newspapers / Staff
Editorial #: 55939173
Collection: Hulton Archive
Aerial view of the coastal area of Patuakhali littered with dead cattle after it was hit by the tropical cyclone and tidal wave on November 13, 1970, which killed an estimated 200,000 to half a million people, with at least 100,000 missing, in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), Patuakhali, East Pakistan, November 18, 1970. (Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images)
Operation Palm, (Cyclone), East Pakistan, 1970
Email Article
Print Article
On the 12th of November 1970, Cyclone Bhola, the deadliest ever recorded in world history struck Bangladesh. On the 20th of November 1970, the Singapore Government announced its offer to send a self-contained and self-supporting military medical mission to Bangladesh, which was accepted by the Pakistan government then governing Bangladesh. Coded named 'Operation Palm' was carried out by the SAF Medical Corps to provide medical relief for disaster victims in Bangladesh (then known as East Pakistan), following a cyclone attack on the area.
On the 1st of December 1970, team leader then CPT (Dr) Seet Lip Chai led a 47-man medical team on two British RAF Hercules planes to Chittagong, a major seaport and the second largest city of Bangladesh. The medical team was subsequently deployed to Sandwip Island, 35 miles west of Chittagong. Sandwip Island had borne the full brunt of Bhola's attack and was one of the worst-hit areas.
The team assisted the local health authorities in their work to prevent the outbreak of an epidemic by vaccinating and inoculating the population Medical care was also provided to the locals. In addition to the medics that were sent out, a clinic was also set up in Sandwip on the 4th of December 1970.
On the 22nd of December 1970, the medical team accomplished its mission and returned to Singapore. Over the 16-day stay on the island, the 47-man team had managed to vaccinate a total of 26,786 people, in addition to providing medical attention and distributing foodstuff donated by Singapore firms. Medical supplies were donated to the local medical authorities, while 15 tons of canned food was forwarded to local relief centres for distribution to victims of the disaster