Odisha Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena said on Friday that heavy rain and flooding in five districts have led to five more deaths, ANI reported. With this, the flood-related toll in the state is now 12.

“A total of five more people died in Odisha due to house collapse and drowning in Bargarh, Nuapada, Jajpur, Baleswar and Bhadrak,” Jena said. “Seven people had earlier died in Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Sundergarh and two were missing in Bargarh and Mayurganj.”

The Odisha government has deployed 39 teams of the National Disaster Response Force, Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and fire services in 11 districts. Five more teams of the NDRF will also be deployed on Saturday, the state government said.

The Odisha administration had opened 40 of the 64 sluice gates of the Hirakud dam by 9 pm on Friday to discharge floodwaters. The authorities have managed to discharge more than 25 lakh cusec of water so far.

Meanwhile, six people, including a newborn baby, were rescued from a village in Jajpur district of Odisha on Friday, the Hindustan Times reported. The Brahmani and Kharasrota rivers had caused flooding in the village.

Over 4 lakh people have so far been affected by the floods, Odisha Television reported on Friday. As many as 1,276 villages of 54 blocks in 10 districts of Angul, Bolangir, Balasore, Boudh, Cuttack, Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Nuapada, Deogarh and Sonepur have been affected. Over 3,83,000 people in 552 villages have been marooned, and 2,757 houses damaged, according to the Odisha government’s estimate. Over 18,500 people have been shifted to temporary shelters.