Phulbani: A woman and her minor daughter were killed when the wall of a water tank caved in on them at Telimunda village, about a kilometer from Tumudibandha block headquarters in Kandhamal district Saturday, the police said.
The deceased were identified as Prabhati Dalapati (32), the wife of Raja Dalapati, a deaf and mute man, and their daughter Jagnyaseni Dalapati (12).
Police registered a case and sent the bodies for post-mortem. Hundreds of locals assembled at the spot mourning the deaths.
The woman and her daughter died on the spot as the water tank caved in on them in the morning, Tumudibandha police station IIC Bibhu Dutta Routray said.
The circumstances that led to the collapse are yet to be ascertained. However, preliminary inquiries suggested that flaws in construction methods or rainfall over the last few days might have led to the collapse of the water tank.
Police said Dalapati had constructed a five-ft high water tank in the backyard of his house to store water for domestic use. It rained heavily Friday and the tank was filled to the brim.
It was about 6.30 AM when Prabhati was cleaning utensils and her daughter was brushing her teeth near the water tank when all of a sudden it caved in on them. Family members with much effort recovered the bodied from under the debris.
Dalapati is a sharecropper and also works as a casual labourer. The mishap has left him shattered. PNN
