Three die of suffocation in septic tank of an under construction building in Assam

india

Updated: Sep 25, 2019 11:51 IST

Three workers are suspected to have died due to suffocation on Tuesday after they entered the septic tank of an under construction building in Barpeta district of lower Assam, according to the police.

“Three workers who were involved in cleaning the septic tank of an under construction building died on Tuesday. Lack of oxygen inside the tank appears to be the likely reason of their death,” said Robin Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Barpeta.

On Tuesday, two among the three workers working in the under construction building entered the underground tank in Barpeta Road town to clean bamboo and water colle`cted inside. Asuruddin (24) and Akmot Ali (20) entered the 13 feet underground tank first. Rofiqul Islam (34), the head mason, was outside but entered the tank when his calls were met with no response.

Police suspects that Rofiqul died due to suffocation like the other two workers.

The bodies were recovered with the help of the fire and emergency services personnel and men from the National Disaster Response Force. “Postmortem report will throw more light on the exact cause of death. We have registered a case of unnatural death,” Debanand Das a police official at Barpeta Road police station said while adding that the police have not yet ruled out drowning as the cause of death.

“We don’t have estimate of the water level inside. But the tank was not full,” Das said.