CHENNAI: Three people died after inhaling poisonous gas in a water tank in Thirumullaivoyal on Friday. Another person who tried to rescue them is currently undergoing treatment. According to Thirumullaivoyal police, the deceased were identified as Prem Kumar (50), his son Pradeep Kumar (18), and their neighbour Pramod Kumar (42). The person undergoing treatment was identified as Sarnath.
The police said Prem Kumar, who lives with his family at a house there, had cleaned the underground water sump on Thursday night. He had then put bleaching powder in the sump and left it overnight. On Friday, when he opened the sump to wash the bleaching powder off, he inhaled a poisonous gas and fell inside the tank.
On seeing this, his son Pradeep Kumar tried to rescue him but he too inhaled the gas and fell into the tank. Prem Kumar’s wife then sought help from a neighbour to rescue her husband and son. However, the neighbour identified as Pramod Kumar met the same fate.
Another neighbour Sarnath meanwhile jumped into the tank to rescue them and fell unconscious. The locals then called the police and fire department. Fire department personnel then rescued the four and rushed them to a nearby private hospital, where Prem Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, and Pramod Kumar were declared dead on arrival. Their bodies were then sent to the Government Kilpauk Medical College for postmortem. The police registered a case and are conducting an investigation.