PERAMBALUR: In a tragic incident, a youth who was part of a group deepening a well and a firefighter who came to save him after the former stopped responding, died in Chelliyampalayam village near Perambalur on Sunday in the evening.
The deceased were R Radhakrishnan (27) from Chelliyampalayam village and firefighter Rajkumar (36). The villagers criticised the firefighters for not using safety equipment and said that cost two lives.
The youth Radhakrishnan along with another person P Bhaskar (26) had gone into the 45-50 feet that was being dug to check on the depth. They had not climbed up and firefighters were called.
Initially, firefighter Rajkumar, entered the well and helped an unconscious Bhaskar out with a rope. But, firefighter and Radhakrishnan did not come out for a long time.
To check on the two, firefighters duo Balraj and Dhanapal entered, and they too did not return for more than a half-hour. It was suspected that there was some toxic gas at the bottom of the well.
The remaining firefighters without climbing down the entire length brought out three persons, they could not reach Radhakrishnan. Those who were brought out---firefighters Rajkumar, Balraj and Dhanapal; and Bhaskar---were sent to Perambalur Headquarters Government Hospital.
More firefighters arrived from Thuraiyur and recovered Radhakrishnan and sent him to Perambalur GH. He was pronounced dead. The firefighter who went in first Rajkumar was also pronounced dead. Among the others admitted civilian, Bhaskar was referred to Tiruchy GH for further treatment.
During the rescue operation, a villager A Murugesan (27), had fainted just by looking into the well. The villagers criticised the firefighting department for not using safety masks. They said that if they had used safety respirators there would have been no deaths.
Tiruchy Zone Firefighters Deputy Director Meenakshi Vijaykumar and Perambalur SP Nisha Parthiban rushed to the spot and pacified the grieving villagers. Perambalur police registered a case and are investigating the matter.
On Monday, Rajkumar's body was taken to his native Uthamapalayam in Theni district by an ambulance and his funeral was held with 21 gun salutes. Social activist Venmanai Varadharajan said, "Everyone already knows that two people are struggling for a few hours. However, it is very sad that firefighters went down without any safety equipment. The incident occurred due to the negligence of the authorities. But the authorities say otherwise."
Perambalur District Firefighters Officer U Damodharan said, "The firefighters inside went down without any safety equipment as those inside were alive initially. Otherwise, they would not have gone down without checking. They acted quickly to save the two as soon as possible the two struggling inside."
The well belonged to one V Murugesan (50) who had dug the well in his field six months ago. He was engaged in the work of deepening his agricultural well by employing daily wagers. On Sunday morning, explosives were said to be used to drill deeper.