BERHAMPUR: In a tragic incident, two persons including a minor girl of a family died while as many became critical suspectedly of asphyxiation due to fumes from a power generator at Betarasing village in R Udayagiri block of Gajapati district on Saturday.
While the deceased are Ganesh Nayak (20) and his sister Ambika (12), those critical include Madhab (52) and Jhumuri (7). Sources said Madhab, his son Ganesh and daughters, Ambika and Jhumuri had gone to sleep after attending a marriage function and ‘pala nacha’ performance in the village. The family was reportedly unaware of a generator running outside the room where it slept.
In the wee hours, when some of Madhab’s relatives came to wake him up to make arrangements for performing rituals at the Lord Shiva temple in the village on Maha Shivaratri, he was found in an unconscious state. After Madhab regained sense, he along with the others checked on Ganesh, Ambika and Jhumuri only to find they were unresponsive.
The three were taken to Chandragiri hospital where doctors declared Ganesh and Ambika brought dead. While Madhab’s condition improved after treatment, Jhumuri was shifted to MKCG Medical College and Hospital as her health deteriorated.
Sources said fumes from the generator seem to have caused the mishap. A team from Chandragiri police outpost rushed to the village and launched an investigation into the incident, said R Udayagiri IIC Prasant Kumar Mallik. A case has been registered and the bodies sent for postmortem. Only after the report comes, we can ascertain the exact cause of the death, he said.