Chennai: Six die inhaling poisonous gas in Sriperumbudur septic tank tragedy
Chennai: At least six men, including three from the same family and a Good Samaritan who rushed to their help, died inhaling poisonous gas from a septic tank in a house at Sriperumbudur near Chennai on Tuesday, sending shock waves across the state.
Police gave the names of the deceased as Krishnamoorthy, the house owner, his two sons Kannan, 28, and Karthik, 25, two of the landlord's tenants, Suradhabhai, 28 and Paramasivam, 32, besides a 22-year-old youth, Lakshmikanthan who was delivering gas cylinders in that locality.
All fell like ninepins, one after another, in a serial tragedy hardly witnessed in recent days, to the noxious gas emanating from the tank, starting with the family head Krishnamoorthy who first got inside to apparently round off the cleaning to perfection after a sewage tanker had initially emptied the septic tank in his house.
While the family lived on one of the floors, Krishnamoorthy had let the other portions in the building to other families for rent. Since this part of Sriperumbudur is yet to get underground drainage system, Krishnamoorthy made sure the septic tank was cleaned periodically. But Tuesday work was to be deadly.
After the tanker had left suctioning the sewage, Krishnamoorthy reportedly spotted a small area inside the tank which required further cleaning and hence he got inside the tank to do it himself. As Kannan and Karthik watched, Krishnamoorthy fell unconscious within the tank. Karthik rushed inside the tank to get his father wake up, but also fainted inside the tank. Kannan, hoping to revive his brother and father, jumped into the tank only to faint in it.
As one disaster after another unfolded in front of their eyes, Krishnamoorthy's family shouted for help and two of their tenants - Suradhabhai (28) and Paramasivam (32) - came running to help the three men. They also got inside the septic tank, fainted, taking the tally to five. Hearing the cries of the families of the men, Lakshmikanthan, delivering gas cylinder nearby, rushed to their help. He jumped into the tank to rescue the men, but also succumbed to the gas.
Shocked neighbours and others nearby alerted the police, fire station and the ambulance. A fire engine reached the spot and pulled out all six men from the tank, but they were all reportedly dead by then. The Fire and rescue services personnel also cleaned the contaminated tank with foam and sealed it shut.
Bezwada Wilson, Founder and National Convener of the Safai Karamchari Andholan (SKA), was later quoted by a news website as having said that people set out to do such things due to lack of awareness about the technology available to clean septic tanks.”I would hold the state responsible for such deaths,” he reportedly added.
The police registered an FIR under section 174 CrPC and sent the six bodies for autopsy to the government hospital in Sriperumbudur.
