Incessant rain claims five lives in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: A wall collapsing and a tree branch coming down due to incessant rain triggered by a deep depression claimed five lives in different parts of the state in the last 24 hours.

The deceased include three minors, two from Mayurbhanj and one from Koraput district.

As per reports, two minor girls Sweety Giri (11) and Niharika Giri (4) died while their parents Anil Kumar Giri and Rita Giri sustained critical injuries after the wall of their thatched house at Bhulabedha village within Bisoi block of Rairangpur sub-division in Mayurbhanj collapsed due to heavy rainfall since Friday night.

The mishap took place at around 2 am when a portion of the wall fell on them while they were sleeping.

Locals, who rushed to the spot to rescue the family members, shifted the injured parents to Rairangpur sub-divisional hospital.

Two other daughters of Anil escaped unhurt in the incident.

The BDO and Tehsildar in-charge Bhagbat Prasad Mohapatra who visited the spot said a police team is looking into the matter. "It was found that the mishap took place due to collapse of the front wall of the house on the family members," Mohapatra said.

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Meanwhile, the district administration has provided an ex-gratia of Rs 40000 from the Red Cross fund and Rs 4000 from the Harishchandra Yojana to the family.

Apart from the two minor girls, a cook at the Rairangpur sub-divisional hospital, Sukumar Mohanta (40), a native of Chhanpal village, died after the branch of a tree fell on him at Durga Mandap chowk in Rairangpur town.

The incident took place on Friday evening when Mohanta and one of his colleagues were going to the hospital on a two-wheeler.

Another victim, Priyanshu Rajbhatra, a nine-year-old boy from Nua Sahi area of Gandhi Nagar in Koraput town, died after a wall collapsed on Saturday morning.

His father Suman Rajbhatra said the mishap occurred at around 6 am when a portion of the bathroom wall of their house collapsed on his son. An ODRAF team that reached the spot recovered the body of the minor boy from the debris.

In a similar incident, Dutika Behera, a woman from Tikarpada village of Mahadeijoda panchayat in Keonjhar district, also died due to a wall collapse following heavy rain in the locality. Her  husband was also reportedly wounded in the mishap.

Incessant rain triggered by the deep depression over Bay of Bengal has pounded the state in the last 24 hours causing a flood-like situation in parts of north-coastal districts.

Met officials said two places recorded extremely heavy rainfall, while 27 places received very heavy rainfall. Besides, 49 more places recorded heavy rainfall.

Bhogorai in Balasore district recorded the maximum rainfall of 226 mm followed by 211 mm rainfall in Phiringia block of Kandhamal district.