Two labourers died while cleaning a sewage tank in Faridabad on Wednesday.
Two men, both aged 35, died due to asphyxiation while cleaning a septic tank at a house in Chennai’s Varadharajapuram near Tambaram Wednesday, the police said. Their bodies were handed over to their families after a post-mortem and a case was lodged at the Manimangalam police station.
According to the police, V Rajesh and A Ezhumalai agreed to clean a septic tank at one Jayaraman’s residence. They duo charged Rs 9,000 for the work and had managed to remove one load of sewage using a suction truck.
While removing the second load, the duo noticed a block in the suction tube and Ezhumalai went inside the tank to unclog it using an iron rod. When he fainted inside the tank, Rajesh tried to rescue him but also fell unconscious.
Speaking to indianexpress.com, sub-inspector of Manimangalam police station Senthamizh Selvan said, “The duo had been in this business for some time and used their private truck. Jayaraman’s wife saw both the workers lying motionless inside the tank and informed her husband and other neighbours who in turn alerted the police.”
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“We immediately informed the Tambaram fire and rescue station. Both Rajesh and Ezhumalai died after inhaling poisonous gases. The fire and rescue personnel came and retrieved their bodies and sent them to Chromepet Government Hospital for post-mortem. The bodies have been handed over to their families,” he added.
The police have registered a case against Jayaraman (34) under Section 304 (II) of the IPC and provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act.
This is the second instance in a span of five days. Earlier, a 29-year-old lorry cleaner died of asphyxiation while cleaning a septic tank at a house at Injambakkam in Chennai on January 16.
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