Bhubaneswar: The body of Odia doctor Bishnu Prasad Chinara, who went missing in the landslides at Wayanad in Kerala, has been recovered.
It has been confirmed by State Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari.
Dr. Bishnu Prasad Chinara, one of the two Odia doctors, went missing in the Kerala landslides. another missing doctor is Swadhin Panda.
The Minister said, “We have received information that the body of Bishnu Prasad Chinara has been located. His wife Priyadarshini Pal, who was injured in the landslide, is undergoing treatment in a hospital and is stable,” he said.
The deceased Bishnu Prasad was a resident of the Housing Board colony in the Choudwar area of Cuttack district.
Bishnu Prasad, his wife Priyadarshini, and friends Dr Swadhin Panda and Swikruti Mohapatra had reportedly gone on a trip to Kerala on July 26. They were staying at a hotel in Wayanad when the landslides struck.
The Minister stated that Swikruti Mohapatra, a resident of the OMP Chowk in the Beheramal area of Jharsuguda district, was injured in the landslide. She was stable and undergoing treatment in a hospital in Kerala, the Minister said, adding that he had spoken to her father.
The government will make arrangements to bring back the body of Bishnu Prasad Chinara after re-identification and completion of other formalities, the Minister said.
One administrative official, Dillip Kumar Routray, along with a doctor has been sent to Kerala, who will check the health condition of the injured in the hospital and also make arrangements to send back the body to Odisha, said Minister Pujara.
He hoped and prayed for the safe return of Dr Swadhin Panda, who is still missing in Wayanad. The Minister said the state government is in touch with the Kerala government over the matter.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has expressed deep grief after receiving the news and expressed his condolences to the bereaved family of Chinara.
The death toll in the landslide-affected Wayanad mounted to 176 on Wednesday even as the Army, Navy and Air Force were engaged in rescue operations and setting up infrastructure, including bridges.
The number of missing people as per the officials was 98. However, many people were searching for their relatives and the estimate is said to be around 200.
The worst affected areas include Churalpara, Velarimala, Mundakayil and Pothukalu. The locals from these areas who managed to escape are deeply shattered by the extent of the devastation, according to reports.
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