Three workers died of asphyxiation after inhaling poisonous gas while repairing a sewage pumping station in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai on Thursday.
The deceased Sivakumar, Lakshmanan and Saravanan were contractually employed by the Madurai Corporation, according to The Hindu.
“We believe that Sivakumar, 40, who first got into the sewage tank, which has a depth of around 30 feet, to fix the motor fell unconscious after he inhaled the poisonous gas at around 9 pm,” Madurai Deputy Mayor T Nagarajan told the newspaper.
Lakshmanan and Saravanan subsequently fell into the tank after inhaling the poisonous gas.
The relative of a deceased said these three deaths happened due to government negligence.
“We have lost three lives only because they didn’t use machines, ” he said to Hindustan Times.
Two workers were taken to the hospital in a two-wheeler since there was no ambulance, he said.
“One of them couldn’t even be retrieved,” alleged the relative.
A fourth person, Karthik, who was involved in the rescue operation, was sent for treatment to the Government Rajaji Hospital after he showed signs of inhaling the poisonous gas as well.
