Four die of suffocation inside septic tank

Four persons died due to suspected suffocation inside theseptic tank of a house in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, police said.

The incident took place at Pegdapalli village this morning, district Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg said.

The deceased were identified as house owner Enja Madnaiyya (40), his son Pankaj Enja (25) and two others, Enja Shankar (20) and Haridas Kashyap (35).

Madnaiyya had built the house recently.

According to preliminary information, one of the victims climbed down into the tank to clean it, but he passed out, a police official said.

Four others went inside but all of them passed out.

They were pulled out by other villagers who were present and taken to a local hospital where four of them were declared dead. The fifth person was being treated.

It appeared to be a case of suffocation, but the exact cause of deaths will be determined when the autopsy report comes, the official said. Further probe is on.