BARIPADA: Two more children were killed when a portion of the wall collapsed following incessant rains for over a week taking the death toll due to wall collapse to five in Mayurbhanj district in the last three days.
Sources said Ganesh Singh's daughter Yasoda Singh (10) and son Jyotisankar Singh (6) of Raidihi village under Udala police limits died while his wife Tulasi and younger son luckily survived.
The incident took place when the children were asleep on Monday night. While Ganesh works in a private firm in Bhubaneswar, Tulasi stays with children in their native village.
Police said Tulasi and her younger son had gone outside to attend nature's call when the weak portion of the mud wall collapsed. Hearing the sound, Tulasi went back to the room and found the two children under the debris.
With the help of neighbours she took out the two in critical condition and rushed them to the hospital where doctors declared them brought dead. A pall of gloom descended the village following the mishap.
Inspector-in-Charge of Udala Police station Niroj Samal said that the mishap took place at around 11.30 pm. On being informed, police rushed to the hospital and seized the bodies, and sent them for postmortem. Further investigation is underway, he said.
On Sunday, a 10-year-old girl Muni Behera, daughter of Sanjay Behera of Raghunathpur under Baripada municipality died after the wall of her house caved in.
On Saturday, Sweety Giri (12) and Niharika Giri (4), daughters of Anil Giri of Bhulagadia village under Bisoi police limits were killed after the wall of their house collapsed. They were sleeping with their mother and another sibling who escaped narrowly.
Founder of Adivasi Dalit Mahasangha Rakesh Singh blamed the State government for the incidents. He alleged that the government failed to provide pucca houses to eligible beneficiaries leading to such mishaps. Had these families been provided pucca houses under the government's housing scheme, they would have been alive, he added.