CHENNAI: In yet another case of manual scavenging, two persons died of asphyxiation while cleaning a sewage tank at the MES Army office in the Tamil Nadu Secretariat complex. According to the Fire and Rescue Services department, the deceased were identified as Raja (40) and Santhosh (35).
Both of them fell unconscious in the septic tank, and another person, Venkatesh, managed to get out of the tank immediately after sensing something was wrong. Two rescue teams were called around 11.30 am. Raja and Santhosh were declared ‘brought dead’ by Army hospital doctors inside the campus, an officer said. Repeated calls to the Fort Police Station went unanswered.
When contacted, the Harbour Assistant Commissioner of Police refused to divulge details. On February 14, three middle-aged men died of asphyxiation after they reportedly entered the underground septic tank of an industrial kitchen in Katrambakkam, near Sriperumbudur in Kancheepuram district. Within a week, a 52-year-old man died in Maduravoyal after inhaling poisonous gases while attempting to repair a 30-ft-deep well, which allegedly had sewage seepage.