Thousands were evacuated and at least seven people swept away in eastern Orissa state after four rivers burst their banks and inundated scores of villages, officials said Saturday. "Our present focus is on evacuation of people. Thousands have been shifted from the villages to shelters," Disaster Management Minister Manmohan Samel told AFP in state capital Bhubaneswar.
The seven were swept away to their deaths by swirling waters, state officials said, and the army was on high alert to help out. Almost half of coastal Orissa has been facing flooding since last weekend but a heavy downpour and water overflowing from brimming dams compounded the situation overnight in the three districts, officials said.
Northern India, meanwhile, reeled under torrential rains which killed at least 16 people. All the deaths occurred in Uttar Pradesh state in the past 48 hours, regional relief commissioner G. K. Tandon said in Lucknow.
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