Three workers died on Wednesday inside a septic tank while cleaning it in Odisha’s Rayagada district, police said.
Police reached the spot and launched an investigation into the incident. The incident took place at Tarapaguda village under Padmapur police station limits. Two of the deceased were masons while the third was a daily-wage labourer. A team from the Padmapur fire station rushed to the scene and pulled the three workers out of the tank. The bodies were taken to the Padmapur Community Health Centre, where doctors also declared them dead. The bodies have been kept at the health centre for further procedures. The incident triggered outrage in the area, with local residents gathering at the spot. Padmapur MLA Satyajit Gamang also visited the site. The deceased in that incident included three masons, a labourer, the house owner and his son.
The deceased have been identified as Harishchandra Bir (46), Prakash Lima (45) and Alok Karad (47), all residents of Jibajagatpur village near Kenduguda, police said. On 26 May, six people died while removing shutter from an under-construction septic tank at Karlakhunta village in the Madanpur Rampur area of Kalahandi district.
The three workers entered a newly constructed septic tank at a house in Tarapaguda village to clean it, according to the police. They reportedly became unconscious after being exposed to toxic gases inside the tank, police said. However, they were already dead by then, officers said.
