Southern States - Kerala   

Gas leak in sugar mill, 3 killed

By Our Staff Reporter

PALAKKAD DEC. 23. Three workers of the distillery of the Chittur Cooperative Sugar Mills died after reportedly inhaling carbon dioxide while repairing a washout pipeline valve on Monday. According to eyewitness accounts, the gas leaked from the Mild Steel Tank mixing methyl gas and furnace oil for producing carbon dioxide for use at the effluent treatment plant.

The dead have been identified as A.C. Chandran (56), P. Bhaskaran (55) and Sivaraman (56), all centrifugal operators.

It was Chandran who first went down the nine-foot deep pitch to clean the pipeline. After cleaning the valve, he went further down to fix it and was asphyxiated. Soon Bhaskaran went down to see what is happening to his colleague. Sivaraman who went down to save both tried to come out but fell down and died.

A fourth worker, Alisar, tried to go down, but he found it difficult to breathe and returned. Shanmugam, an engineer, rushed to the spot and tried to go down on a rope. He too returned after he felt suffocation. Alisar said he saw his colleagues struggling to breathe below the pitch.

He said the death must have been caused due to the inhaling of carbon dioxide leaked from the gas tank. It cannot be due to methyl since its foul smell could have been felt from a distance. Since carbon dioxide is odourless, the workers were caught unawares.

The gas pipeline had not been in use since the distillery had remained closed for the last eight months. The distillery was put into operation only on December 9 last year.

The workers allege that there are no safety measures or medical facilities in the factory which has hundreds of workers.

Though a local doctor was brought, he could do nothing as the victims were lying in the deep pitch. The bodies were taken out after Fire Force personnel arrived.

The workers are on the verge of starvation as they have not been paid their salary for the last five months. The three who died will not get the life insurance and group insurance claims as the company has not paid their insurance premiums for the last six months.

The bodies were handed over to the relatives after postmortem at the District Hospital.

The State Government announced a financial relief of Rs. 20,000 to the next of kin of the deceased. The Revenue Minister, K.M. Mani, sanctioned Rs. 10,000 each to the victims' families. The District Collector, X. Anil, said an inquiry would be conducted into the incident.

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