Six persons died on Sunday after inhaling poisonous gas in a septic tank in Jharkhand’s Deoghar district, a senior police officer said.
Two labourers -- Govind Manjhi (53) and Tilu Murmu (24) -- got into the septic tank of a private home to clean it in the morning in Devipur village of the district, Superintendent of police Piyush Pandey said.
When they failed to return, house owner Rajesh Barnwal’s two brothers - Brajesh (54) and Mithilesh (43) -- entered the tank to check on the labourers, the SP said.
As all four of them failed to respond, one by one Manjhi’s two sons, both in their 20s, went in, he said.
None of them wore any safety gear, Mr. Pandey stated.
“Local villagers broke open the tank and found all six lying unconscious. They were taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared them ‘brought dead’ All of them died after inhaling toxic fumes inside the tank,” he said.
The bodies will he handed over to the family members after post-mortem, he added.
