CHENNAI: Two workers were asphyxiated to death when they opened the lid of a septic tank to remove silt deposits at the housing quarters of the Union government’s Ordnance Clothing Factory (OCF) in Avadi on Thursday morning.
Police identified the victims as Moses, 55, of Avadi, and C Devan, 50, of Pattabiram. Over 200 families reside in the quarters at Giri Nagar near Chennai. Following complaints of blockage from the residents, a private contractor was engaged to clean the sewer line, police said.
“The private contractor had employed the two victims to execute the work. Initially, Moses opened the manhole lid of the chamber that connects the sewage line. As soon as he opened the lid, he was exposed to poisonous gas and slipped into the tank,” a senior police officer said. Devan, who attempted to save Moses from falling into the chamber, was also hit by the gas and he too fell into the three-foot-wide and 15-foot-deep junction chamber.
A security guard of the complex who tried to save Devan also got exposed to the gas but collapsed on the ground and survived. He was later rushed to the Avadi Government Hospital for treatment. After the residents of the OCF informed police and fire service personnel, rescue teams rushed to the spot and retrieved the workers from the manhole. An ambulance crew that performed CPR on them declared the workers dead.
The Avadi Tank Factory police registered a case and sent the bodies for postmortem to the Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital.Avadi joint commissioner of police P Vijayakumar and deputy commissioner N Baskar visited the spot and conducted inquiry. Police have registered a case against the people who engaged the workers under Section 304A (causing death due to negligence) of IPC and other sections. A probe is on. Chief Minister M K Stalin has announced a solatium of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the victims and conveyed his condolences.
Devan, a daily-wage labourer, is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son. Speaking to TNIE, his relatives said Devan did not tell his family that he is involved in cleaning sewage tanks. “He was working in the construction industry for many years and was suffering from health issues for the past 10 years. He had a spinal cord issues and couldn’t carry the weight of construction materials anymore,” Devan’s daughter said. “He only told us that he will take care of our expenses and we must concentrate on our studies. We never knew he was cleaning sewage. Once when we saw him cleaning silt from a sewage tank, he told us that it was just for a day,” the girl said.