Three minor girls, all siblings, died of snakebite while their father was hospitalised in critical condition in Odisha’s Boudh district, police said on Monday.

The incident, according to police sources, occurred in the middle of night in Chariyapali village under Tikarpada panchayat of Boudh district on Sunday.

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The family members of Salendra Mallick were sleeping on the floor when a venomous snake slithered into the house and bit them. The ill-fated victims’ mother and brother however luckily escaped from the snakebite.

The delayed hospitalisation might have resulted in the death of the victims. The next of kin of the victims who die of snakebite are being covered under Rs 4 lakh compensatory award after the government had conferred snakebite as a State-specific disaster on 1 April, 2015. Therefore, the next kin of the deceased will receive the ex-gratia.

The coastal State has reported loss of more than 5,000 human lives to snakebite in seven years between 2015-16 and 2022-23. The snakebite fatality accounts for 37 per cent of total disaster-induced deaths registered in the state. No other disaster claims more human lives than the snakebite toll of recent years, said an official

The six months from May to October have been identified as the period when the maximum number of snakebite deaths occurs, added the official.