At least four people died of asphyxiation while cleaning a septic tank in Bihar's Saharsa district on Tuesday. The incident took place when Kailash Choudhary, the 55-year-old owner, and three laborers, Asharfi Shah, 65, Sushil Kumar, 25, and Shambhu Shah, 45, were cleaning the septic tank on Monday evening in Mahisarho village, which is in the Mahishi police station area. Choudhary had entered the tank to assist the laborers because he was a construction worker by trade.
"The incident took place at the residence of Kailash Choudhary around 5 o'clock on Monday when four people were cleaning the septic tank. At the point when a fifth individual was going to enter the tank, he saw that the four had fallen unconscious and raised an alarm," Saharsa (Sadar) Circle Officer Pradeep Kumar Jha told PTI.
They were taken to a hospital in Mahishi, where three of them were declared dead by doctors, while another person died in a medical establishment in Saharsa, he said, adding that nearby police are examining the matter.
Similar incident in Tamil Nadu
Earlier, in a similar incident that occurred in Srimushnam village of Tamil Nadu's Cuddalore, three workers died after inhaling toxic fumes while doing patch-up work on a newly constructed Septic tank. The incident, which took place on Saturday (May 13) evening, claimed the lives of three people who were identified as Krishnamoorthy (40), Balachandran (32), and Shakthivel (22). Krishnamoorthy was the owner of the house, and the other two deceased were his relatives.
"Krishnamoorthy owned the new house for which a new septic tank was being built. The other two were relatives of Krishnamoorthy and all 3 entered the tank yesterday and did a few patch-up works. Unfortunately, toxic fumes killed them," Cuddalore Police said.
The police have registered a case into the incident under section 174 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The bodies of the deceased have been sent for an autopsy, the police said. Further investigation into the matter is underway.
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