Nine workers choked to death after inhaling poisonous gas while trying to clean the filter tank of Kirti Oil Mills, situated in the Latur Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation.
Police said the bodies of seven workers were retrieved by the fire brigade on Monday night, while two more were brought out in the early hours of Tuesday.
One worker, who was found unconscious, is now undergoing treatment at the Vivekanand Hospital in Latur, said rescue officials.
Some of the workers who went in first lost consciousness. When others went to check, they met a similar fate, said the police.
“Primary investigation indicates that the filter tank of the four-year-old unit has not been cleaned since its inception, a flagrant violation of safety norms,” Assistant Inspector S.M. Bavkar of the Latur MIDC police, told The Hindu .
A probe was under way to find out what gas was generated in the tank, Mr. Bavkar added.
The mill owner Kirti Bhutada, a technical head, the manager and a supervisor have been arrested
