United in tragedy: East Bengal team rallies around its Kerala players affected by flood

In the midst of a hectic Calcutta Football League season, East Bengal's Kerala players are in a state of distress, panicky about the well being of their folks back home, who have been hit by worst ever flood in a century.

East Bengal goalkeeper K Mirshad's sister was forced to leave her home in Kanhangad in the semi-affected Kasargod district and is taking shelter elsewhere.

Forward Jobby Justin's family is safe as they hail from Trivandrum but his younger brother who studies engineering in Palakkad had to face a lot of hardship to reach home after being cut off from rains.

"The rain has stopped but we are bracing for a bigger crisis back home. But there's lack of clean drinking water, and the fear of an outbreak. Our people are going through a difficult time but we can't go back home now. Once the league gets over (September 24), we hope to go there," Justin told PTI.

After seeing all the trains going packed, his brother had to take a de tour via Madurai in Tamil Nadu to reach home.

"He (brother) has slept little after reaching home. All the youngsters are engaged in volunteering like collecting and distributing relief materials. I feel really sad that I'm not there in this hour of crisis," the young forward said.

"All the schools and colleges have been transformed into relief camps, and everyone is coming together."
"We are waiting for the league to get over so that we go back home. We are just praying that everything returns to normalcy soon."