Two men were asphyxiated while applying solvents in a tank at Anna University on Tuesday evening.
Their families, which heard about the incident only eight hours later, had to wait till Wednesday morning to get a glimpse of the deceased at the Government Royapettah Hospital mortuary.
AbscondingThe site manager and the contractor of the firm which had employed the duo have been absconding since Tuesday. “An officer showed me a picture of my son’s body. He looked bloated and unrecognisable,” cried S. Adhimuthu, father of Ramesh Shankar (26) who, along with his colleague R. Deepan (25), died while working on preventing leaks in a chamber.
“They went inside at 11 a.m. They died an hour later. The bodies were found around 4 p.m. Not a single person was around to supervise the work or help ,” he said.
Ramesh Shankar lived with his parents and younger sister in Ayapakkam.
He had a diploma in mechanical engineering and joined Kavi Meena Rubber Company, Ambattur, the firm hired for the work, three months ago.
Deepan had worked in the firm for almost 10 years and lived in Ambattur with his wife and son.
According to the police, the two men entered the chamber to paste a rubber sheet on the inner wall with chemicals to prevent leakage but got exposed to the noxious fumes from the chemicals.
“This is sheer negligence on part of the authorities,” said Vasantha Kumar, Deepan’s cousin.
“They were not provided any safety gear or masks or gloves. Moreover, nobody was around when they went inside the tank. This is a serious offence,” Kumar said.
