In a tragic incident, two workers who had climbed down a newly constructed manhole to clean up the debris died due to asphyxiation on Sunday. A third worker who also got trapped in it was rescued.
The incident took place at Chanakyapuri here. Laying of new underground drainage network is under way in the area and other parts of the city.
The Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) has entrusted the work to a private contractor.
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According to eyewitnesses, the three workers who worked under a head mason, were reportedly instructed to remove the debris in the manhole — comprising broken wooden planks and steel rods.
One of them reportedly stood outside and the other two climbed down the manhole — which still remained unused — one after the other. However as there was no response from the other two, the worker standing outside alerted bystanders and climbed down to help his colleagues.
However he too didn’t come out and the people immediately alerted the police. Soon, fire brigade and police personnel rushed to the spot and initiated the rescue operation.
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All the three workers, who were pulled out unconscious, were rushed to the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) Hospital.
Brought dead
However, the doctors declared two of them as brought dead, while the third worker survived.
The police have given the names of the victims as Ramesh and Santhosh of Nellur village in Gadag district. Basavaraj, who survived the mishap, belongs to a village near Raibag. All the three were involved in the underground drainage work for the last few months.