Three students, all under age 13, die of snake bite in Odisha's Keonjhar

The minor students were sleeping on the floor of the coaching centre-cum-hostel at Nischintapur village of the district when four of them including two girls were bitten by the poisonous reptile.

Keonjhar (Odisha):In a heartwrenching incident, three young students of a private hostel died while another one is critical after being bitten by a poisonous snake in Odisha’s Keonjhar district during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.

The minor students, including two girls, were sleeping on the floor of the coaching centre-cum-hostel at Nischintapur village of the district when they were bitten by the poisonous reptile. The institution is named Fatafat coaching centre run by one Khageswr Mohanta.

All four students were rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) in Keonjhar, where three of them were declared dead on arrival by the doctors. The fourth student was critical and had to be shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack for better treatment.

The deceased were identified as Raja Nayak (12), Shehashree Nayak (10) and Elina Nayak (7), while the critical student was identified as Akash Nayak (12). Police and administration are yet to react on the matter.

It is pertinent to mention that snake bite cases are very common in Odisha but the state has not been able to reduce the numbers. Odisha is the fourth most snake-bite-prone state in India with data showing that between 2016 to 2021, more people died from snakebites than natural calamities including cyclones and floods in the state.

In a report on natural calamities for the year 2020-2021 published by Odisha Government, over 1,000 deaths were attributed to snakebites across 30 districts.