Keonjhar: A brother-sister duo, both minors, was killed while their mother and minor sister sustained serious injuries after a portion of their house wall caved in on them while they were asleep Sunday night.
The heartrending incident was reported from Manoharpur village under Ghatagaon police limits in this district.
The deceased were identified as Shriram alias Babulu Munda (3) and his elder sister Geeta Munda (5). The injured were their mother Rukmini Munda (38) and sister Hemlata Munda (5).
Sources said, Rukumini was with her three minor children at home while her husband Jaga Munda had gone out for some work. As usual, the family went to bed after dinner.
Suddenly a portion of the wall of their house collapsed on them. The two minor children- Shriram and Geeta were buried under the debris of the wall and died on the spot.
Hearing the noise, villagers rushed to the spot and rescued Rukmini and Hemlata. Later, both of them were admitted to the local hospital while their condition is still stated to be critical.
It is being said that the wall of the house was in a dilapidated condition as a result of incessant rain over the past few days. Later, the rain-soaked mud wall collapsed, leading to the mishap.
After getting information, Ghatagaon tehsildar Sudhansu Shekhar Rao, Dhenkikote Revenue Officer (RI) Anusuya Behera along with Dhenkikote outpost police officer Bharat Nayak and constable Sushil Kumar Mohanty reached the village and took stock of the situation.
After talks with Keonjhar sub-collector, additional tehsildar provided compensation amount of Rs 10,000 from Red Cross, Rs 2,000 from Harischandra Yojana and Rs 1,000 from Gramya Unayana Funds.
Similarly, the BDO Trilochan Mohanty assured of a house under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) for the bereaved family. A case of unnatural death was registered and the bodies were sent for autopsy.
A pall of gloom descended in the village following the mishap.
PNN
