BHUBANESWAR/KEONJHAR: The OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik had a providential escape when the boat in which he was travelling in the flood-affected areas of Keonjhar district capsized at a place between Batoh and Saladei panchayat on Saturday. All the villages in Saladei panchayat are submerged in the floodwaters of Baitarani. Besides 10 Congmen, there were three boatmen and relief materials in the boat. Recounting the horror, Patnaik said he swam for more than half-an-hour. He held onto a tree with both hands as a last resort with swimming proving to be very exhaustive. “I could not climb up the tree and was on the verge of slipping into the swirling floodwaters when two boatmen arrived and rescued me,” he said. “Luckily I survived,” he said. The AICC secretary and former OPCC president Jaydev Jena, who was visiting flood-hit areas in the nearby areas, visited Patnaik. The OPCC chief sustained minor injuries in the mishap.
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