Gujarat: Three labourers die after inhaling toxic gas while cleaning septic tank

Three sanitation workers died after inhaling toxic gas while cleaning a septic tank in Dahej in Bharuch district on Tuesday afternoon. Another worker's condition is said to be critical who is being treated in the hospital.

According to police, the workers were engaged in cleaning the tank belonging to the local panchayat office. They said that one of the workers, who was inside the tank, had stopped responding following which two other workers entered the tank to rescue.

The incident occured in Dahej industrial area where workers were hired to clean the sludge from the septic tank. Locals said that they were not wearing any safety equipment. The fire officials rushed to the spot and recovered the bodies of the victims from the septic tanks.

The victims have been identified as Galsinbhai Muniya, 30, Paresh Katara, 31, and Anil Parmar, 24, all residents of Dahej. Locals said that the workers had entered the septic tank holding each other’s hand without wearing safety equipment.

A few days back, a sanitation worker, Mehul Mehda, 24, and his contractor, Afzal Kukur, died in Rajkot while cleaning an underground drainage. This incident was captured on CCTV.

Mehda had entered the underground sewer in Samrat Industrial area and fainted due to toxic gas while his contractor, Kukur, who was at the spot, entered to save him but he too fell unconscious and died.