DHENKANAL: Two labourers died and another was taken ill reportedly due to asphyxiation when fumes from a generator engulfed their closed room at a brick kiln on the banks of Brahmani river near Maneswar village here on Thursday night.
The deceased were identified as Dirisa Kankel (18) and Rayesh Banara (19). The injured, Khande Banara (20), was found in a critical condition and has been hospitalised. The trio belong to Kishore Nagar area of Pallahara town in Angul district.
Kantabania IIC Deepika Ray said after switching on the generator set, the three labourers went to sleep in a closed room at the brick kiln on Thursday night. It is suspected that they might have died from the smoke of the generator set which was running inside the room the entire night. On Friday morning, fellow workers became suspicious when the trio did not open the door. They knocked on the door but did not get any response. Suspecting foul play, they immediately contacted the brick kiln owner.
On being informed, Kantabania police rushed to the spot and broke upon the door. “We found three workers lying unconscious in the room. They were immediately taken to Angul district headquarters hospital where doctors declared two of them dead,” said the IIC.Kande was later shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack after his condition deteriorated. The trio was working in the brick kiln since the last around three months.Ray further said bodies of the deceased were sent for postmortem. An unnatural death case has been registered in Kantabania police station in this connection and further investigation is underway.