Six die after inhaling noxious gases while cleaning sewage tank in TN

A man, his two sons, and three others died of noxious gas inhalation and asphyxia while cleaning the sewage tank of their apartment, near Sriperumpudhur, in Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday.

The deceased were identified as V Krishnamurthy, 53, his sons Kannan, 23; Karthik, 21; V Paramasivam, 31; and Lakshmigandhan. The identity of the sixth victim could not be ascertained.

On Tuesday, Krishnamurthy, who had a petty shop near his house, tried to clean the septic tank in front of his house. As he pulled open the lid, he reportedly inhaled noxious gases. He raised an alarm but fell inside, the police said.

One of them inhaled noxious gas in the tank while unclogging the pores in the sewage plant. His sons, Kannan and Karthik, rushed in to help but met with the same fate. Paramasivam, the former’s tenant, and Lakshmigandhan, a gas cylinder supply person, tried to rescue the others from the tank. Soon after, they too fell in the tank and died. The sixth victim, who had reached the petty shop, looked around for Krishnamurthy and reached the accident spot. He too reportedly inhaled the gas and fell in.

The fire and rescue service personnel retrieved all the bodies and took it to the Government District Hospital, Kancheepuram.