Three labourers and the house owner died after reportedly inhaling some poisonous gas when they went into an abandoned well to clean it, in Bantumilli village of Krishna district, on Friday.
The victims were identified as workers P. Srinivas Rao (53) of Mulaparru village, V. Rama Rao (60) and his son V. Lakshman (35) and house owner, K. Ranga, natives of Bantumilli. According to local residents, the four one after the other entered the well and reportedly died of asphyxiation.
Housing Minister Jogi Ramesh, Machilipatnam Revenue Divisional Officer I. Kishore, DSP Sk. Masum Basha and MRO Satyanarayana rushed to the spot and enquired about the incident.
The Minister consoled the family members and assured to extend possible help to the bereaved families from the government.
The house owner engaged the three workers for removing silt in the well. Srinivas Rao, who went into the well collapsed, and two other labourers too fell consciousness after inhaling some poisonous gas.
Ranga, who got down into the water, did not come up. Villagers, who alerted the Revenue and the Police officials retrieved the bodies from the well and shifted them to the Government Hospital mortuary, said the DSP.
Meanwhile, a pall of gloom descended in Bantumilli and Mulaparru villages with the death of the four persons. The Bantumilli police registered a case.
