ERODE: The owner of an auto wash facility and a worker died of suspected asphyxiation after the duo rescued another worker, who had fainted inside the empty chemical cargo tank of a lorry while cleaning it, near Chithode in Erode district on Sunday.
The deceased were identified as M Yuganandan (50) and K Chandran (54) -- both are from Palakkattur near Lakshmi Nagar in Bhavani in Erode district. The worker who had first fainted, S Chellappan (52) of R N Pudur in Chithode, has been undergoing treatment at a hospital.
According to the police, Chandran and Chellappan worked at Yuganandan’s facility, Sri Dharani Service Station, in Konavaikal on the Salem-Cochin National Highway. After supplying Polyaluminium Chloride (PAC) from Hyderabad to two dyeing factories in Tiruppur, the tanker lorry driver -- G Kreesh Kantharaja (48) of Sankaran Kovil in Tirunelveli -- took the vehicle to the wash facility for cleaning on Sunday. The police said Chellappan, who had gotten inside the tank with a piece of cloth covering his face and without wearing any protective equipment, soon fainted inside.
Noticing this, the police said, Yuganandan and Chandran got inside the tank and rescued Chellappan. However, by the time they had handed him over to fellow workers outside the tank, they both grew faint and fell unconscious as they too had not worn any protective gear, the police said.
Upon information, the fire and rescue services personnel from Bhavani Fire Station reached the spot and sent the two to Government Erode Medical College in Perundurai, where the doctors declared them dead on arrival. The doctors suspect the two may have died due to asphyxiation, according to the police. A police officer said PAC, the chemical transported in the vehicle, is used to decolourise dyeing sewage. Chithode police inspector P Ravi said, “We are questioning the lorry driver regarding the incident”.