Odisha: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will visit Sambalpur district where at least 11 people have died and several others went missing in an accident after a boat capsized in the Hirakud Dam on Sunday evening.
The boat was carrying 90 people and capsized in the Mahanadi river.
According to OPCC president Jaydev Jena, Rahul Gandhi, who is on a two-day tour of Odisha, has made a few changes in his schedule, to visit the accident site.
Special Relief Commisioner Pradeep Kumar Mohapatra said, “Rescue operation is underway. Nobody knows the exact number of missing people”.
The state government has engaged aerial search operations and scuba divers, to trace missing persons.
Odisha’s Revenue and Disaster Management Minister S.N. Patro and Finance Minister Prasanna Acharya have also rushed to the spot.
The accident took place while nearly 120 people from the Lion’s Club of Sambalpur, Hirakud and Bargarh, were returning from the other side of the reservoir after a picnic.
