Four workers died due to suffocation when they entered a newly-constructed septic tank in Garhwa district on Wednesday, police said. The incident happened at Dumarsota village under the jurisdiction of Kandi police station when the labourers entered the septic tank to remove the scaffolding, Police Station in-charge Ram Avtar , said.
According to sources, one Akhilesh Dubey had hired the four men to remove the scaffolding in the sewage tank located behind his residence. The labourers, who were not wearing safety gear, including masks, fell unconscious after entering the tank. Seeing the condition of the labourers, the labourer working outside, raised the alarm then people pulled them out and rushed them to Kandi Health Centre where doctors were found absent. Later people took them to Manjhiaon hospital, where the doctor declared dead before admission.
The labourers died of suffocation as the septic tank was filled with hydrogen sulphide, carbon dioxide gas, Ammonia etc, said Amit Kumar, a doctor at Garhwa Sadar Hospital.
The deceased were identified as 40-year-old Mithilesh Kumar Mehta and his son Nagendra Kumar Mehta, 20, Anil Kumar Mehta, 35 and Praveen Kumar Mehta, 33.
All the labourers were the residents of Dumarsota village, the police station in-charge said, adding that the bodies were sent to the Sadar hospital for post-mortem.