Five labourers at a rice sheller in Chhahar village of Sunam constituency, Sangrur, died of asphyxiation and the 6th person is on ventilator. They used to work in the sheller on contract and would also sleep there. The incident took place on Sunday night when they kept the burning hearth inside the closed room. The deceased have been identified as Sachin, Karan, Anant Kumar, Aradhye and Satlalan, all in their early 20s. Rudal is undergoing treatment at the hospital. German Mukhiya, contractor of the labourers, said, “We knocked on their door for sometime and by 7am when they didn't answer, we broke opened the door and found all six of them unconscious. We rushed them to a nearest hospital where five were declared dead and Rudal is on ventilator.” He added that they all were from Begusarai and Samastipur districts of Bihar and their relatives also work in Punjab. Sangrur SSP Surendra Lamba said that preliminary investigation revealed that they had kept a burning hearth inside the closed room for the entire night. “It appears that they inhaled carbon monoxide released from the hearth. Post-mortem is being done to find the exact cause of death,” the SSP said. Mukhiya added that their treatment cost is being bored by the sheller owner.
