Manual scavenging . (File | EPS)
VILLUPURAM: Two masons working on an unused sewer pit at a new house allegedly died of asphyxiation at Kondur village in Villupuram on Monday. Police said the exact cause of suffocation is yet to be ascertained.
The deceased - G Iyanar (38) and K Manikandan (35) - had been masons for 12 years and lived in the nearby village of Paakam, sources said. They were building a house attached to a grocery store, and the project was almost complete. Only the walls of the sewer had to be plastered, police said.
However, they suffocated after entering the sewer on Monday. Local sources said they died on the spot.
“The sewer had not yet been used. The men may have suffocated due to lack of air circulation or due to a leakage of toxic gases from nearby sewers.
We aren’t sure of the exact cause,” Superintendent of Police N Sreenatha said, adding that an autopsy will be done at the Mundiyambakkam Government Medical College and Hospital. Sreenatha added that an investigation is on, and based on the details that emerge, a case will be registered against house owner Sekar (50).
‘Died on the spot’
They were building a house and the project was almost complete. They suffocated to death after entering the sewer pit on Monday, local sources said.
