Girl drowns, boy missing as boat capsizes during evacuation

A nine-year-old girl drowned and a minor boy was reported missing as a mechanized boat engaged in evacuating people from seaside Satabhaya gram panchayat in Kendrapara district capsized in Baunsagadi rivulet today.
The residents of Magarakanda village were being evacuated when the mishap occurred at around 11 AM today, Kendrapara Collector Pramod Kumar Das said.
The evacuation exercise was being carried out by government agencies in view of the threat of Cyclone Hudhud hitting vulnerable seaside villages of the erosion-hit gram panchayat.
The deceased has been identified as Puja Mallick and the missing as Hemant Mallick (11).
The boat was carrying 25 persons, mostly women and children, he said.