Bhubaneswar/Phulbani, Nov 1 (PTI) The death toll in Odisha due to Cyclone Arnab rose to six on Sunday with the recovery of two bodies from a landslide-hit village in the southern part of the state, while search was underway to trace 10 other missing people, officials said.
Home to around 26 people, the hilltop Gidipabali village on the border of Ganjam and Kandhamal districts disappeared from the map as an enormous amount of sludge and debris cascaded down the hills due to cyclone-induced rainfall earlier this week and levelled houses.
At least 13 people who could escape the landslide have been sheltered at a relief centre near G Udaygiri, said Kandhamal District Collector Vedbhusan.
Odisha has reported around 10 landslide incidents due to incessant rain brought by cyclone Arnab that made landfall in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh on October 28.
State Fire Service Director General Sudhanshu Sarangi said, "Rescue teams have recovered two bodies. The search operation will continue till Tuesday." The state government launched the search operation on Friday.
Rinima Mallik, a survivor of the landslide, walked 25 kilometres through jungle roads with her two children on her shoulders to the cyclone relief centre near G Udaygiri.
"My husband and father are missing. How to support my twins? We do not want to go back to the village," she said and urged the government to help her settle elsewhere.
Another survivor, Soudamini Mallik, whose family members are also missing, said, "The landslide occurred when the whole village was asleep. Sludge and boulders rolled down on our house. Some of us who woke up by the sound ran for safety. We do not know what happened to others."
Official sources said 177 personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), Fire Service, Special Operation Group, railways, and the Indian Navy have been sifting through mud and stones in search of the missing people in the Gidipabali village.
Special Relief Commissioner Rajesh P Patil said, "We are using the seismic life detection unit of the Odisha fire department and the railways' chain pulley system to safely evacuate people from the landslide-affected area."
Officials said the death toll in incidents related to Cyclone Arnab has reached six, with the recovery of two bodies in the landslide-hit Gidipabali village. Earlier, three members of a family died in a landslide in Kandhamal and another man was swept away by water torrents in Gajapati district.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said the state government was taking all possible measures to save missing people, while leader of the opposition Naveen Patnaik said he was "concerned and saddened" to learn about the landslide in Bhanjanagar.
"I urge the government to ensure all necessary steps are taken for the swift and safe rescue of the people. At this untimely moment of grief, I convey my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and pray for the safe rescue of everyone," Patnail said on X.
