Man who tried to help among 4 dead in Hyderabad manhole mishap

HYDERABAD: Sewage manholes in Hyderabad have turned into a death trap for labourers as four more people died in the latest incident due to negligence by civic body

HYDERABAD: Sewage manholes in Hyderabad have turned into a death trap for labourers as four more people died in the latest incident due to negligence by civic body officials.

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The incident occurred on Saturday evening in Ayyappa Society in Hyderabad’s Madhapur, an information technology hub, when three workers were cleaning a manhole.

All the four deceased, including a passerby — who rushed to rescue the three workers — died of asphyxiation, police said. A worker from 108 ambulance service also fell into the pit while helping the victims. He, however, was rescued by others.

The workers engaged by a contractor had gone into a manhole to clean it. A worker was trapped inside after he inhaled poisonous gas. Two more workers went one after another to rescue the first one but they too died of suffocation. Preliminary investigations revealed the contractor had asked the workers to clean the manhole without providing any protection.

The contractor was blacklisted earlier by Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board after a pedestrian was killed after falling into an open manhole in the same area on June 28 this year.

This is the latest in a series of such incidents in the city. In May this year, two workers were killed in a similar incident in Koti area.

The Hyderabad high court had taken suo moto note of the incident and directed the officials to take measures to prevent such incidents in future.