Three asphyxiated while cleaning tank

Three workers were asphyxiated to death after they entered a plastic tank to clean waste discharged by a gold smithy in RS Puram in Coimbatore on Friday. The deceased were identified as R Gowrishankar and R Ezhumalai (23) and Suryakumar (24).

Inquiry revealed that the men had inhaled hydrogen sulphide.

The owner, Ravishankar, had engaged them for Rs 7,000 to clean the tank and had also allowed them to collect gold dust from the sludge.

At 2 am, Ezhumalai and Gowrishankar entered the tank, but were suffocated and raised an alarm. On hearing them, Suryakumar, a supervisor in the gold smithy, entered the tank to rescue the duo, who by then were unconscious. However, he too became unconscious.

Shortly after, another worker, Radhakrishnan, found the three men inside the tank.

Other labourers pulled out the three men who were taken to Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital. Following complaint by a worker, RS Puram police registered a case against Ravishankar and arrested him.

Aggrieved family members staged a protest at CMCH refusing to receive the bodies after post mortem. The families, however, received the bodies after police held talks with them. Members of Tamil Nadu Untouchability Front also protested in front of the District Collector’s office demanding compensation of Rs 10 lakh and a government job to the kin of the deceased.