Bhubaneswar, (Reporterspen) June 15: Three women tragically lost their lives in a landslide while they were engaged in stone-cutting on a hill in Odisha’s Koraput district on Saturday.
According to sources, a group of 10 villagers, including 2 men and 8 women from Salmanguda village under Koraput Town police station, had gone to Matikhala Murram hill near Kolab dam to cut stones. During their work, a large section of stone and debris dislodged from the hillside and fell on them.
Upon hearing of the landslide, teams from the NDRF, fire brigade, and local police rushed to the scene. With the assistance of villagers, they managed to extract three women from beneath the rubble.
Tragically, two women, identified as Purni Jani and Sanmati Jani from the village, had already lost their lives. Another woman, Champa Badnayak, sustained critical injuries and was rushed to the district headquarters hospital (DHH) in Koraput, where, despite efforts, she passed away during treatment.
The district sub-collector and local MLA visited the site to oversee the rescue operations. Police have initiated an investigation into the incident and have registered a case accordingly.
