Cyclone Titli: 12 killed, 4 missing as hideout cave crumbles in Odisha
12 tribals were killed and four went missing in Gajapati district as they took shelter in a cave near a hillock to escape the tail end of Cyclone Titli on Thursday.
Local officials said 22 tribals of Baraghara village of Gajapati’s Rayagada block had taken shelter in a cave near their village.
Meanwhile, the hillock caved in due to incessant rain and the resultant rockslide swept away 16 of the villagers.
12 bodies were recovered late Friday night while four are still missing, said Rayagada Block Chairman Dhaleswar Bhuyan.
Bhuyan said the other six villagers who survived had come back to inform the district administration about the tragedy.
“The villagers complained that neither the district collector nor the officials of local police station responded to their SOS calls,” he said. Agitated villagers said they would not cremate the bodies till the district administration gave adequate compensation.
Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi said the district administration was trying to reach the remote village. “We were more focussed on the damages to coastal areas. This particular village is located far away from the coast and was not within the 20-km immediate impact zone of the cyclone,” Sethi said.
“The deaths at Gajapati happened solely due to the callousness of the State. What is shocking is that the government did not have information for more than 24 hours after the tribals died,” said BJP leader Bhrigu Buxipatra.
-PTC News
