Surat (Gujarat) [India], June 7 (ANI): Four people died in Surat on Sunday after being exposed to toxic gas while cleaning an Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) tank at a jewellery company in the Ashwini Kumar area, police said.
A case of accidental death has been registered.
DCP Zone-1 Surat, Alok Kumar, said that the incident took place during the routine cleaning of a tank that collects waste from jewellery cleaning operations. He added that four workers went for the cleaning this morning; one fell in, and the others who attempted to rescue him also fell, leading to four fatalities.
“The waste product of the jewellery cleaning flows into a septic tank, which undergoes regular cleaning to remove the accumulated sludge. This cleaning operation is carried out every two months. This morning, a team of four people went there to perform the cleaning. During the process, one man fell into the tank, and the other labourers who went to rescue him also fell in. A total of four deaths have been reported. We are currently registering a case of accidental death,” the police official told ANI.
The officer added that the victims were not equipped with proper safety gear, which likely contributed to the incident. He further stated that, prima facie, chemical poisoning appears to be the cause of death, though the final determination will depend on the post-mortem reports.
“Preliminary examination of CCTV footage does not reveal the presence of any required safety equipment. Prima facie, chemical poisoning seems to be the cause, as sudden deaths resulting from asphyxiation in such contexts often involve chemical poisoning. However, we cannot state this definitively until the doctor’s post-mortem report confirms the cause of death,” Kumar said.
“It happened early in the morning while they were there to carry out the cleaning…they lacked the proper gear required for handling and removing this sludge, which is why this poisoning incident occurred,” he added.
Divisional Fire Officer Ranjit Singh said that when the call came, four people were involved. They were retrieved and sent to the hospital. Singh added initially thought to be a water tank, the site contained toxic gas, which likely caused all four to collapse due to high concentration.
“We don’t have an exact figure on the fatalities yet, but when we received the call, there were four individuals involved. We retrieved them and sent them to the hospital for further treatment. The initial call stated that someone had fallen into a water tank. However, upon arriving at the location, we discovered it wasn’t a water tank. It appears that toxic gas had accumulated inside, and the individuals likely succumbed to it while working. The concentration of the toxic gas must have been high, causing all four of them to collapse,” Singh told ANI.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident, and a case has been filed in connection with the deaths. (ANI)