Five die in well in Kalyan

In a shocking incident, five people-- three workers and two firemen-- died in a well in Kalyan in Thane district, 60 km from downtown Mumbai, on Thursday.

The incident took place in Kolshewadi in Kalyan East area, according to police and fire department officials.

The well is located near a nullah, off the Bhimashankar temple, that carries industrial effluents. "Prima facie it appears that the deceased inhaled noxious gas," said zonal deputy commissioner of police Sanjay Shinde.

While one of the workers was cleaning the sludge in the well, he apparently got trapped in the slime. Alarmed, two of his colleagues went down for his rescue and got tapped too.

Local people called the police, fire brigade and the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation.

Search for bodies

Two firemen - Pramod Wagchore and Anand Shelar - who went in on a rescue mission, also died.

Thereafter, special teams of divers fished out the body of one of the workers, who was identified as Rahul Gosavi.

The Thane Disaster Response Force teams have begun a search for the other bodies.