Eight dead as Cyclone Fani batters India’s Odisha state
CHANDIGARH, India: Cyclone Fani left a trail of destruction as it made landfall in India’s Odisha state, knocking out power and inundating many areas, Anadolu Agency reported, quoting local media.
At least eight people were killed, according to officials and local media.
“While three people, including a teenage boy, were reported killed in Puri district, three perished in Bhubaneswar and nearby areas.
Flying debris from a concrete structure fatally struck a woman in Nayagarh.
An elderly woman died of a heart attack at a relief shelter in Kendrapara district,” the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
The Indian government’s Principal Spokesperson, Sitanshu Kar, said 160 people are reported to be injured.
“As per telephonic information, in Puri, extensive damage to kutcha houses, old buildings and temporary shops. Power and telecom is completely down.
NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) and state forces are clearing roads,” he said on Twitter.
“Damage is extensive. It is devastation. Buildings, roads are damaged. Electricity and telephones are affected,” Odisha Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi told Anadolu Agency by phone, adding a damage assessment is being conducted.
Several videos of the damage caused to buildings and other property mostly in the capital city Bhubaneswar have surfaced on social media. — Bernama