Bhubaneswar: At least five persons, including four children, were killed after a portion of an under-construction culvert collapsed in Uparasaja village under Kalayansingpur tehsil in Odisha’s Rayagada district on Monday morning.
According to reports, the culvert collapsed when the deceased children were bathing at the construction site. It is suspected that some more people may have been buried under the debris.
While the precise reason behind the collapse of the culvert is yet to be ascertained, it is assumed that the construction material might have weakened following incessant rain in the region.
At the time of filing this report, the police are yet to identify the deceased and a detailed report follows.
Later, Odisha Scheduled Castes and Tribes and Law Minister Jagannath Saraka, MLA Makarand Muduli, Rayagada SP Vivekananda Sharma, local BDO Sunil Khara, and Tehsildar Sudhakar Rait reached the spot and spoke to the people. The minister and SP said that the state government has been informed about the accident and all the work will be done as per the instructions of the government. Action will be taken against the contractor.
