Odisha: In an unfortunate incident, five people, including four children, lost their lives after an under-construction culvert collapsed on them in Odisha's Rayagada district on Monday. Following this, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed grief and announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased. With this, Odisha Law Minister Jagannath Saraka and Rayagada MLA Makaranda Muduli also visited the accident site and condoled the death of the five people.
According to the police, the incident happened in Uparsaja village in Kalyansinghpur block. As per a senior official, the culvert collapsed when they were bathing under it. "They were bathing in the rainwater that accumulated under the culvert", he said.
Extending condolences to the bereaved families, Patnaik, in a statement, said, “Strict action would be taken against those responsible for the incident."
A pall of gloom descended on the village as the parents were seen wailing holding the bodies of their children. A rescue team, comprising personnel of the fire service and police, cleared the debris, the officer said.
Local officials said that the construction of the culvert was not completed as the contractor withdrew his workers from the work. The ceiling of the culvert caved in due to very heavy rainfall in the locality, they claimed.
