Four killed after inhaling suspected toxic fumes inside well in MP: Police

Police, along with the State Disaster Emergency Response Force and forensic team, reached the spot after being informed about the incident by villagers and pulled out four bodies from the well

Bhopal: Four people were killed after inhaling suspected poisonous gas from a well in Madhya Pradesh’s Katni on Thursday, police said.

(Representative Photo)

Police said that a water fetching pump was installed in a well in the district’s Juhli village. Due to rain, the water level was continuously rising, and on Thursday afternoon, one Pintu Kushwaha entered the well to take out the pump but became unconscious, said NKJ police station in-charge Neeraj Dubey.

To save him, another person identified as Rajkumar Dubey, his nephew Nikhil Dubey, and Rajesh Kushwaha went down in the well to rescue Kushwaha, but they too fainted, said Dubey.

Police, along with the State Disaster Emergency Response Force and forensic team, reached the spot after being informed about the incident by villagers and pulled out four bodies from the well.

According to the postmortem report, it is suspected that they died after inhaling poisonous gas inside the well, likely methane, said officer Dubey.

He added that the forensic team has collected samples of water and gas to know the actual cause of death.

Meanwhile, chief minister Mohan Yadav expressed condolences over the incident and announced an ex-gratia of Rs.4 lakh each to the kin of the deceased persons.