Gujarat: 3 sanitation workers allegedly die while cleaning septic tank

Police have identified the as deceased as Galsinbhai Muniya, 30, Paresh Katara, 31, and Anil Parmar, 24, all residents of Dahej

Three sanitation workers allegedly died of asphyxiation while cleaning a manhole in Dahej town in the Bharuch district on Tuesday, police said.

The cause of the death is likely to be the inhalation of poisonous gas (Representative Photo)

Police said the workers were cleaning the septic tank of the local panchayat office.

Police have identified the as deceased as Galsinbhai Muniya, 30, Paresh Katara, 31, and Anil Parmar, 24, all residents of Dahej.

Police said the workers started shouting for help soon after they got inside the tank. A fire brigade team was called in for the rescue after others failed to extract them from the manhole, police said, adding the workers were declared dead on the way to the hospital.

The cause of death is likely to be inhalation of poisonous gas as, according to the locals, the workers were not wearing any safety equipment.

This is the second such instance in the last two weeks. On March 23, a sanitation worker, and his contractor died in Rajkot while cleaning an underground drainage. The incident was captured on CCTV.

On March 16, the Gujarat government informed the state legislative assembly that eleven sanitation workers have died of asphyxiation while cleaning drains in different parts of the state during the last two years.