THOOTHUKUDI: Four men died of asphyxiation after entering a sewage tank at Keela Chekkarakudi near Mudivaithanenthal in Thoothukudi district on Thursday.
The deceased, all from Tirunelveli district, were identified as Pandi (24), Raju (19) and Bala (20) of Veeravanallur and Dinesh (23) of Alangulam. The four youngsters had accompanied a private septic tank cleaning vehicle, engaged by Somasundaram of Keela Chekkarakudi village.
According to police and eyewitnesses, after three rounds of liquid waste were sucked out of the tank, one of the men entered it to clear the solid waste left behind. Unfortunately, he collapsed on inhaling the toxic fumes. The three other men followed him into the tank, one after the other, and also succumbed, police said. Their deaths came to light after Somasundaram realised something was amiss and went to check.
Fire services were called and Srivaikuntam fire safety and rescue personnel, headed by T Muthukumar, finally retrieved the bodies from the sewage tank and sent them to Thoothukudi medical college hospital (TKMCH) for postmortem.
Muthukumar told The New Indian Express that when they reached the spot, they found the bodies of the men, one on top of the other, inside the tank.
Thattaparai police have registered a case and are investigating.
Thoothukudi SP S Jeyakumar, Rural DSP Ponnarasu and other police officials visited the site.