The State Government on Saturday confirmed that 21 people have been died so far due to sun stroke and heat related incidents as the searing heat wave continued unabated despite slight respite in the coastal areas.
Till Saturday, the Special Relief Commissioner’s (SRC) office has received reports of 108 deaths allegedly due to sun stroke. However, 21 deaths have so far been confirmed due to heat related incidents, while 26 other deaths were found from other reasons. Rest of the cases is under investigation by the district collectors, SRC official sources said.
The local Met office said Titilagarh town in Balangir district recorded 45.4 degree Celsius followed by Sonepur (44.6 degree). Bhawanipatna recorded 44.5 degree Celsius, followed by Sambalpur (44.4), Hirakud (43.6), Angul (43.5) and Jharsuguda (43), it said.
The coastal belt, however, experienced marginal fall in temperature with the mercury hovering at 39.9 degree Celsius in Bhubaneswar, the Met office said.
