Two firemen among five die in well

Five persons, including two fire brigade personnel on a rescue mission, died in a well Thursday apparently due to inhalation of toxic gas in Kalyan in neighbouring Thane district of Maharashtra, the police said.

The firemen entered the well this afternoon after they were informed that three labourers got trapped inside it, a police official said.

He said the well is located adjacent to a nullah whose water is contaminated with industrial effluent, in Netivali Lokgram area in Kalyan (East).

As per preliminary information, the well was filled with some chemical waste that flowed from the nullah, the official said.

He said the labourers had entered the well to remove blockage that was apparently caused by the accumulated chemicals.

"However, as the labourers failed to return, the locals informed the fire brigade. Two firemen descended into the well to trace the labourers, but they also got trapped," the official said.

A team of fire brigade officials rushed to the spot on receiving the information and conducted a rescue operation, he said, adding that they recovered bodies of all the five men.

According to fire officials present at the spot, the well was filled with poisonous gas.

The identity of the deceased is being ascertained, the police official said.

All the five bodies have been taken out of the well and sent for postmortem, he said, adding that exact cause of their death is under investigation.