A teenage girl drowned, a minor boy went missing and two others became seriously ill as a mechanised boat capsized in Bandhua Nullah, a tributary of crocodile-infested Baunsagada river, at Okilapada under Rajnagar block on Saturday.
The boat was engaged in evacuation work ahead of the Cyclone Hudhud. While it was carrying 37 persons, some NDRF personnel, Rajnagar Tehsildar Khirod Kumar Behera and Satabhaya Sarpanch Nigamanada Rout, managed to save most lives.
The deceased was identified as Puja Mallick (9), daughter of one Mahendra Mallick, and the missing boy as Hemanta Mallick (11), son of one Kumbha Mallick. The two who became ill were deceased Puja’s present mother Sabita Mallick and her six-year-old sister of Puja.
After the boat capsized, two NDRF boats and a few Forest Department boats were pressed into service but were yet to find out missing boy Hemant, informed tehsildar Behera.
According to Behera, he along with the Sarpanch and NDRF personnel were coming in the boat with some evacuees to the Okilapada cyclone shelter when the mishap occurred. The boat capsized after its propeller entangled with roots of a mangrove tree, he said.
While some people managed to come to the bank by swimming, others came by holding branches of the tree. Some others were rescued by NDRF personnel and locals, he said.