HYDERABAD : Three contract workers lost their lives on Friday evening when they entered a manhole filled with stagnant water and poisonous gas. The victims, identified as Sreenivas and Hanumanthu from Mahbunagar, both aged 40, and 53-year-old Ramulu from Nizamabad were employed by Ayyappa Infrastructure and Co. to clean the manhole.
Police reports said that the manhole had an opening, but the water was at knee level. Sreenivas, the first to enter the manhole, lost consciousness, presumably after inhaling the poisonous gas emanating from the opening. To help Sreenivas, Hanumanthu entered the manhole but also fell victim to the toxic gas. Ramulu then entered the confined space and met the same tragic fate.
Alarmed bystanders immediately contacted the police.
A Disaster Management Rapid Response Force (DRF) team rushed to the spot to retrieve the bodies. Ramulu was unconscious when he was retrieved from the manhole and was rushed to Osmania Hospital where he passed away during treatment. It is suspected that the trio could have lost consciousness, fell into the knee-deep water and drowned.
Contracting firm booked
Kulsumpura police have registered a case of negli-gence against Ayyappa Infrastructure Company under Section 304A of the IPC and began an investigation