Soap star visits tsunami site

Coronation Street star Shobna Gulati has spoken of her upset at meeting orphaned children during a visit to tsunami-hit communities in India.

14:15 28 March 2005

Coronation Street star Shobna Gulati has spoken of her upset at meeting orphaned children during a visit to tsunami-hit communities in India.

Shobna, who plays Sunita Alahan in the soap, was in the country with her ten-year-old son visiting relatives when the tsunami hit on Boxing Day.

The star has now returned to India as a guest of children's charity Plan International to see how villagers along the country's coastline are trying to re-build their lives in the wake of the disaster.

"The charities and non-governmental organisations like Plan are doing as much as they can. But it's a chaotic situation and the most vulnerable are at the greatest risk," Shobna told the Daily Mirror.

She added: "There is no way of knowing how children and young women will be affected."

The actress has been learning about a rehabilitation programme to help local children overcome their fear of the sea through the organisation of activities like kite-flying or fish festivals.

"They're on an emotional journey that's impossible for us to imagine," said Shobna.