Sundargarh: As many as 14 persons are suspected to have died of heat-related illness in Sundargarh district on Thursday.
While 10 persons have died in Rourkela, four have died in Sundargarh.
In Rourkela eight persons were received dead at Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) and two others died while undergoing treatment at the health facility.
However, the exact cause of deaths will be known after the post-mortem of the bodies tomorrow.
“Nothing has been proved. Eight of them were received dead. One person who was gasping died in the OPD while another died in the Ward. Some people had temperatures of 103°F-105°F and there is a heatwave so we suspect it could be heat related. Since we don’t know their history it will be difficult to confirm right now. The exact cause of the deaths will be known after post-mortem tomorrow. We are writing to Collector and SP.” informed Dr Sudharani Pradhan, Superintendent In-Charge RGH.
Five out of the ten deceased persons have been identified as Mangala Samasi (69) of Jalda ‘C’ Block, Phulmani Badaik (30) of Jalda ‘A’ Block, Ranjit Sahu (25) of Madhusudanpali, Munni Kumbhar (54) of Hatibari, and Manjit Barla (38) of Chhend.
Similarly, four persons are suspected to have died due to heat-related illness at the district headquarters hospital here.
These persons were admitted to the hospital after they complained of head reeling unusual feeling. They died while undergoing treatment at the health facility.
Additional District Chief Medical Officer has said though it is suspected that the deaths could be due to heat-related illness the exact cause will be ascertained after post-mortem.
As many as nine western Odisha towns including Rourkela recorded temperatures of 45°C and above.
