Four killed in sewer after inhaling poisonous gas

The victims had entered the sewer for taking out a pipe which had fallen inside it in an industrial plot of the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) at Rai, about 13 km from here, last evening.

The contractor had engaged the three casual labourers for draining out accumulated water at the spot. When a pipe fell in a nearby sewer, the labourers entered the manhole to bring it out, but after no one came out for long the contractor too entered the manhole to find out the reason, but he too met the same fate.

The other labourers working nearby then raised an alarm and the officials of the HSIIDC rushed to the site and fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The victims were brought out from the manhole and all of them were declared dead.

The victims were identified as Randhir (45), a contractor of Qumashpur village here, Sonu (24) of Bahalgarh village here, Krishan (25) of Naultha village in Panipat district and Vijay (24) of Deepalpur village in this district.

The police has registered a case and sent the bodies of the victims to the local civil hospital for post-mortem. Sonepat Deputy Commissioner Ajit Balaji Joshi has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased.