The Hindu : International : Tracking technology at work in Sri Lanka

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 30, 2004

International

International

Tracking technology at work in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, DEC. 29. Tracking mobile phones using technology reserved for eavesdropping and spying has come in handy to locate stranded tourists and rescue them after the tsunami havoc in Sri Lanka, officials said today.

The Tidal Wave Rescue Centre said it was flooded with calls and text messages after sending out alerts to those using international roaming phones in the island to register their presence, a spokesman said.

The Hong Kong-based risk consultancy firm, Hill and Associates, said it made use of the rescue centre facilities and were able to locate at least 30 foreigners from the devastated areas of Sri Lanka using their "cell triangulation" system. "We extracted at least 30 foreigners from two of our corporate clients," a Hill and Associate spokesman said on the telephone.

More than 600 people had been tracked with the use of mobile phones along the devastated areas, officials said. Thirty-six stranded British tourists were rescued early yesterday thanks to a mobile phone with one of them.

The Britons were picked up from the southern beach resort of Hikkaduwa where they were stranded after the tsunami lashed three-quarters of the island's coastline, killing nearly 17,800 people.

— AFP

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