ALAPPUZHA: Two youths died of suffocation after breathing the poisonous gas inside the well they entered to clean at Mannancherry near here on Tuesday. Amal, 30, Pappali house, Muhamma, and his cousin Girish, 32, died on the spot. Another youth Jithu, a Mannacherry native, collapsed inside the well while trying to save them. But he was pulled out and admitted to a private hospital Mannancherry.
According to Mannancherry SI R Binu, the youths were trapped in the well in the premises of Ponnadan Lime Industries at Ambalakkadav. “Amal and Girish went inside the well by 10 am for cleaning it. They suffocated and collapsed inside the well. Jithu was outside and he stepped in to save them. However, he too collapsed. Mahesh another youth saved Jithu. The poisonous gas created breathing problems for Mahesh too and he was also admitted to the hospital,” said the SI.
The Fire and Rescue Services team from Alappuzha pulled out the bodies from the well. Amal’s father Anilkumar was witness to the incident. The bodies were shifted to Vandanam Medical College for postmortem. The well, constructed with concrete rings, was used for taking water for the factory. Fire and Rescue Service Alappuzha station officer S Satheesan said a motor was used to bring out water from the well every day. So poisonous gas accumulated inside the well and it may be the reason for the accident. After pumping oxygen into the well, the rescue service team pulled out the bodies from the water. The 15-ft deep well had about 2 m of water and the bodies were submerged, he said.