Six men died on Sunday after inhaling poisonous gas inside a septic tank in Jharkhand’s Deoghar district, a senior police officer said. The incident took place at the Devipur market area.
The deceased have been identified as Brajesh Chandra Burnwal(50), Mithilesh Chandra Burnwal (40), Govind Manjhi(50), Bablu Manjhi(30), Lalu Manjhi(25 ), and Leelu Murmu(30). Brajesh Chandra Burwal had constructed the septic tank, which was 20 feet deep and seven feet wide.
“All the six people were rushed to the Sadar Hospital but they were declared brought dead by doctors. Prima facie, it seems that they died of suffocation due to possible accumulation of lethal gases such as carbon dioxide or monoxide in the septic tank,” Kamleshwar Prasad Singh, Deoghar’s deputy commissioner (DC), said.
According to the Hindustan Times, construction labourer Leelu Murmu was the first to go inside the chamber after removing the tank cover as per the scheduled work.
Following this, Brajesh Chandra Burnwal entered the tank, and did not come out. Mithilesh Chandra Burnwal, who went into the tank last to look for the missing, also met his fate.
“The casting of the tank was completed around a fortnight ago. On Sunday, centering materials were to be removed from inside the tank,” Manish Kumar, a neighbour of Barnwal, said.
As per the official, the autopsy of the bodies was being conducted. “After the postmortem, the actual reason of the deaths could be ascertained,” official said.
