2 labourers die of toxic gas after entering septic tank

Two contractual workers died and three others were hospitalised after apparently inhaling toxic gas when they entered a septic tank at a house in northwest Delhi on Tuesday, police said.

Investigations revealed that a person named Gulam Mustafa owns a semi-built plot at Bhagya Vihar area of Prem Nagar in Rohini. He started construction of a house a few days back, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) S D Mishra said.

The plot has a 10-foot-deep septic tank, in which Mustafa and a mason named Rambir allegedly asked two labourers to go inside for cleaning in the afternoon. The labourers refused to clean the tank since they were not trained, but they were forced to enter after being blackmailed with not getting paid three days of wages, the DCP said.

The labourers went inside the tank and fell unconscious. When Rambir did not get any response, he also went inside along with two others and suffered the same fate due to poisonous gases, the officer said.

The five were rushed to a hospital, where two -- Deepak Lambu (30) and Ganesh Saha (35) -- were declared dead. Rambir (33), Sher Singh (40) and Babloo (40) are under treatment, but the latter's condition remains critical, he said.

A case has been registered and a probe is underway. A crime and forensics team also visited the incident spot. It is also being ascertained whether the labourers were wearing safety gears, the DCP said, adding that the bodies of the deceased had been sent for post-mortem.