MANGALORE: A tanker driver and a cleaner died of asphyxiation near the bitumen plant at Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) on Monday.
The deceased driver was identified as Dhanshekharan (35) and the cleaner as Marimuttu (30) .
According to a case registered in Suratkal police station, the tanker was parked in the bitumen plant premises when the accident took place.
Dhanashekharan apparently climbed atop the tanker to uncap the lid and accidentally fell into the tanker. Marimuttu responding to the driver’s shouts for help jumped into rescue him. Both the driver and cleaner were extricated from the tanker and were rushed to a private city hospital where they were declared brought dead.