6-year-old girl's body found, Odisha boat capsize toll now 10
(Sourced from PTI)
The death toll in the Wednesday night boat capsize incident in Odisha mounted to 10 with the recovery of one more body today, officials said. The members of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) team recovered the body of a six-year-old girl today, said Jagatsinghpur District Collector Jamini Sarangi. The deceased has been identified as Subhasmitra Swain of Hasina village, Kujang.
Of the 10 victims of the boat tragedy, eight were children while remaining two were women. A country boat carrying 55 people of Kujang area had capsized in the Mahanadi confluence in Kendrapara district on Wednesday night. The state government has announced Rs. 4 lakh as ex-gratia for each victim's family. The locals, on the other hand, staged agitation demanding more compensation.
The local people today staged agitation and did not allow Minister Prafulla Samal, MP Kulamani Samal and MLA Debasis Samanatray to handover the ex-gratia amount to the bereaved families. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik congratulated the two brave girls of Nipania village in Kendrapara district for their heroic act of saving people from drowning during the Wednesday night capsize incident.
"They (two girls) are the real heroes of Odisha and represent bravery and compassion of young Odisha," Patnaik said in a statement while praising the girls identified as Sasmita Giri and Purnima Giri. Patnaik said the girls saved many lives during the tragedy notwithstanding the severe cold and crocodiles in the river. The girls, two sisters, managed to save around ten persons, said officials.
