KRISHNAGIRI: Three contract workers died of suspected asphyxiation while carrying out maintenance and cleaning work inside a nano-filtration feed tank at Tata Electronics Private Limited near Uddanapalli in Krishnagiri district on Monday evening.
The workers were allegedly exposed to toxic gas while checking the tank. The facility near Hosur manufactures components for Apple iPhones. The deceased were identified as B Akmal (28) of Thinnur village in Panchapalli, P Kaveri (32) of Hanumanthapuram and M Sarathikumar (25) of Belrampatti near Palacode, all in Dharmapuri district.
‘No safety measure in place’
Speaking to TNIE, Krishnagiri Collector C Dinesh Kumar said the three workers were part of a team engaged in cleaning the Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) at the facility in Vanniyapuram near Uddanapalli. “There were no proper safety measures in place while handling the ETP. The district administration is inquiring into the incident,” he said.
According to the collector, Akmal first attempted to look inside the tank but fainted after inhaling gas. Kaveri then allegedly asked Sarathikumar to check on him. Sarathikumar too fainted inside the tank. Kaveri subsequently entered the tank to check on the two and also collapsed. The fourth member of the team, who witnessed the incident, sought help. All three workers were rescued and rushed to a private hospital in Hosur, where they were declared brought dead.
The collector said the workers were employed by another company that had been engaged by Nalco for maintenance work on the water filtration tank.
Bodies sent to Krishnagiri MCH for postmortem
The bodies were sent to the Govt Krishnagiri MCH for postmortem. Collector Dinesh Kumar, Denkanikottai tahsildar V Shanmugam, Denkanikottai DSP Anantharaj and Joint Director of the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health Saravanan visited the spot.
Police said preliminary enquiries suggest that the deaths could be due to inhalation of toxic gas. However, the cause of death could be ascertained after the final postmortem report, a police officer added.
When contacted by TNIE, Saravanan declined to comment, saying a probe was on . Earlier, in September 2024, a fire broke out at a chemical plant inside Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd at Ullukurukkai village near Rayakottai. Eleven people suffered suffocation and other health complications and were admitted to a private hospital in Hosur.
