Kendrapara, Sep 16 (PTI) A 57-year-old fisherwoman was killed in a crocodile attack in Odisha’s Kendrapara district, officials said on Wednesday.
The attack took place around 4.30 pm on Tuesday in Galia creek near Kharinashi village in the Mahakalapada forest range of the Bhitarkanika National Park, they said.
The deceased, identified as Hemalata Das, was in the creek with a group of other women to catch prawns when the crocodile attacked her, they added.
An eyewitness said villagers threw a fishing net over the reptile, forcing it to release Das and preventing it from dragging her into deeper waters.
Das was rushed to the Kendrapara district headquarters hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries later in the evening.
Crocodile attacks have claimed eight lives in and around Bhitarkanika in the past 18 months, forest officials said.
Mahakalapada Forest Range Officer Santanu Kumar Dalei said the government would provide Rs 10 lakh compensation to the victim’s family after completion of an inquiry.
Bhitarkanika is home to around 1,858 saltwater crocodiles, according to this year’s census.
The Forest Department has erected barricades at several river ghats and intensified awareness campaigns, urging people to avoid entering unprotected waters. PTI COR BBM BBM SOM
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