Bhubaneswar: Odisha has topped the country in terms of deaths due to fire caused by electric short-circuit during 2020, as per the annual report on ‘Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India-2020’ by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Deaths due to fire caused by electric short-circuit in Odisha during 2020 stood at 490 – the highest such casualties in India. Altogether 437 males and 53 females have lost their lives due to electric short-circuit last year, said the NCRB report.
Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal registered 186, 158 and 148 deaths due to short-circuit respectively.
The state recorded altogether 1,293 deaths due to accidental fire including electric short-circuit and firecrackers last year, securing the second spot in country in this category. Madhya Pradesh registered 1,390 such deaths in accidental fire last year which is in second position.
Moreover, 60 people died due to explosion of cooking gas cylinders or gas stove blasts in 2020. As many as 741 persons burned to death for various other reasons last year. Owing to its geographical location, Odisha always faces the wrath of the natural calamities. The state recorded 1,428 accidental deaths due to ‘Forces of Nature’ last year. Odisha is at the second spot after Bihar that recorded 1,437 deaths in 2020.
Similarly, 1,711 persons died after accidentally falling off from buildings, vehicles and into manholes or pits. Odisha holds the third spot after Maharashtra (3,326) and Gujarat (1,837). Four persons died in the state after the victims fell into manholes in 2020.
As many as 1,167 persons lost their lives after falling off moving vehicles like buses, trains and trucks in the state during 2020 which is also highest in the country.
Snakes continue to remain one of the biggest killers in the state last year too. The state ranks second in the country in terms of deaths caused by snakebite. Snakebite resulted in the death of 1,105 persons (789 males and 316 females) in Odisha while Madhya Pradesh recorded 2,512 such deaths last year.
Similarly, 24 including five women lost their lives to attacks by poisonous animals, insects and reptiles last year.
