CHENNAI: A 50-year-old man from Kaniyakumari district, who was working as a contract driver in the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, died after he allegedly jumped into a water sump to retrieve his mobile phone near Thiruvottiyur on Saturday.
The man was employed as a driver of a water tanker. Police suspect, he could have died of asphyxiation.
According to Sathangadu police, the deceased was identified as Jayakumar. The police said on Saturday, Jayakumar took his lorry to an apartment complex on TKS Street in Thiruvottiyur.
He was standing beside his lorry as a water sump was getting refilled. At that moment, his mobile phone, which was in his shirt pocket, accidentally fell into the water sump. To retrieve it, Jayakumar jumped into the sump, where he drowned.
A man who was present near the spot tried to pull Jayakumar out, but he was allegedly hit by noxious gas. He immediately informed the police. Sathangadu police rushed to the spot and pulled Jayakumar out. He was rushed to the Government Stanley Hospital, where the doctors declared him brought dead.
The police registered a case and an investigation is on.