BHUBANESWAR: Two persons including a five-year-old girl died when a boat capsized in the
Chilika lagoon on Saturday evening. Of the 14 other people who were in the boat, five were missing and nine were rescued by fire brigade and locals.
Nirmal Chandra Mishra, Khurda Collector, said around 16 persons were there on the boat when it capsized. “We have found two bodies from the
Chilika water. Nine people have been rescued so far. Search operation is underway to find remaining persons,” he added.
Superintendent of police (Khurda) Dipti Ranjan Ray said the incident took place around 5.30pm when the boat was bringing the passengers to Balugaon from Kalijai temple after Raja celebrations. The temple is located on an island on the lagoon.
“A team of 15 fire brigade personnel was rushed to the spot to look for the missing persons,” the SP said.
Nityanand Jena, a fire officer from Balugon, said the boat seemed to have lost its balance in the strong winds.
Later an eight member team of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) from Chhatrapur in Ganjam district rushed to the spot to assist the personnel of fire services in rescue operation.
Manoj Tripathy, Balugaon community health centre in-charge, identified the girl as Shraddhanjali Das from
Nayagarh district. The girl’s father, Rabi Narayan Das (45) is admitted at the community health centre at Balugaon. He said the identity of the other deceased is still not known, he added.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has expressed deep grief at the death of one child in the incident. He ordered special relief commissioner and district administrations of Khurda and Ganjam to work in coordination to expedite rescue operations. He also ordered free medical treatment to the injured.
(Representative image)