Rs 1-lakh compensation for family of toxic gas victims

The exact nature of the poisonous gas is not known. The police said yesterday that contaminated water from a pond nearby could have seeped into the bottom of the well and led to the release of the gas. The CM today said that pond would be converted into a park.

The fatal incident occurred at around 9.30 a.m. yesterday. Although the well had been dug over 20 years ago it had been lying unused till about a month and a half back.

Satte was the first to go down. He next began to complain of some uneasiness and subsequently lost consciousness. Hearing his cries, Baljeet went down next to help him. But he also lost consciousness. The other three men who followed met similar fates.

Firemen attempted to rescue the five villagers, but one of them — 32-year-old Rajesh Kumar — fell unconscious and had to be dragged out along with the other victims. They were rushed to Safdarjung Hospital where the villagers were declared dead. Rajesh Kumar was later declared to be out of danger.