CHENNAI: Three persons died of asphyxiation in Perungudi on Monday afternoon while they were cleaning a well at a house. One of the men who died, was the son of the owner of the house, said police.
Police said, owner Kanappan’s son Santhosh Kumar, 32, Kalidas, 35 and Anbualagan, 35, along with three other men, were cleaning the well which was not used for many months. “As they were cleaning the well, they inhaled a poisonous gas and fell unconscious,” said a police officer. The owner of the house, Kanappan had hired five men — Raji, 35, Sekar, 30, Govindan, 29, Kalidas and Anbualagan from the same locality, to clean the well situated at the back of his house.
“At around 4.30 pm, they began cleaning the well. While Santhosh, Kalidas and Anbualagan had gone deeper inside the well, the other three were only a few feet from the opening of the well,” said a police officer.Kanappan, who was supervising the work, found the six of them unconscious inside the well and immediately alerted the fire and rescue personnel.
“We received the call at around 5 pm and rushed to the spot. We rescued three men and sent them to the hospital, while three others had already died. The rescue operation lasted for about two hours and four five tenders from Velachery, Thuraipakkam, Taramani and Tiruvanmiyur were involved in the rescue mission,” I Mohammed Ayub, station officer from Velachery, told Express. “The well was about 30 feet in height and had 12 foot deep water. Since the well had remained unused for a long time, it started emitting poisonous gases, which is mainly because of the carbon dioxide present at the bottom,” said the officer.
The bodies of the deceased were shifted to the government hospital for post-mortem and three others are undergoing treatment. The Thuraipakkam police have registered a case against Kanappan and further investigations are on.