Four die of suspected suffocation while cleaning waste chamber at Ujjain hotel

Ujjain: Four people died after being trapped inside a waste chamber at Shri Ganga Hotel on Ujjain-Dewas Road in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday night, in an incident that police suspect was caused by suffocation.

The incident took place around 11 pm when four workers entered the chamber to clean it but failed to come out, according to a report by the Press Trust of India.

Ujjain Superintendent of Police Pradeep Sharma said the workers apparently died of suffocation. Police personnel pulled them out and attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but they could not be revived. Doctors later declared all four dead.

The tragedy also left two others ill after they entered the chamber in an attempt to rescue the trapped workers. They were taken to hospital for treatment, Sharma said.

The chamber was used to collect leftover food and other waste, Hindustan Times reported. A fifth cleaner who entered to assist the workers managed to escape after experiencing breathing difficulties and dizziness.

District Magistrate Roshan Kumar Singh said an inquiry would establish whether the workers had entered the chamber for cleaning or had fallen into it accidentally. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination.

The incident is under investigation.