In a tragic incident, five persons died of asphyxiation inside a septic tank in Rayagada district on Sunday.
They died while undergoing treatment at the Christian Hospital in Rayagada. All the deceased were labourers.
The incident was reported from Paika Sahi of Durgi village under the Bissamcuttack police limits in the morning.
According to reports, the five labourers were trapped in an under-construction septic tank after they entered into it to rescue a woman labourer, who accidentally fell into it in the morning.
However, they became unconscious in the tank during their rescue attempt. Fellow villagers dragged them out of the septic tank and rushed them to the nearby hospital in critical conditions. While five of them were declared dead, another labourer was battling for life in the hospital till the last reports came in.