Twelve persons, including five children, were killed and four went missing after heavy rain in the wake of cyclone Titli triggered a landslip in Gangabada panchayat of Gajapati district of Odisha, reports reaching here on Friday said.
The 12 bodies have been recovered from the spot by locals. The deceased were members of five families. The 16 persons from Baraghar village, around 50 km from district headquarters town, Paralakhemundi, had taken shelter in a cave atop a nearby hill.
As communication lines were down in the district due to the cyclone and the road to the village blocked by fallen trees, news about this incident did not come out till Friday evening.
Even the administration had no news about it, till a local news channel reached the spot. The Gajapati Superintendent of Police (SP) has since left for the spot.