Four people died after inhaling suspected toxic fumes from a well in Katni, Madhya Pradesh, on Thursday, police reported.
According to police, a water pump had been installed in a well in Juhli village. Due to continuous rainfall, the water level rose, and on Thursday afternoon, Pintu Kushwaha entered the well to retrieve the pump but lost consciousness, stated NKJ police station in-charge Neeraj Dubey.
In an attempt to rescue him, Rajkumar Dubey, his nephew Nikhil Dubey, and Rajesh Kushwaha also descended into the well and fainted, Dubey added.
Police, along with the State Disaster Emergency Response Force and a forensic team, arrived at the scene after villagers alerted them and retrieved the four bodies from the well.
The postmortem report suggests that the victims likely died from inhaling poisonous gas inside the well, possibly methane, said officer Dubey. He mentioned that the forensic team collected water and gas samples to determine the exact cause of death.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav expressed his condolences and announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs.4 lakh each to the families of the deceased.
“The news of the untimely demise of four precious lives in an accident caused by leakage of poisonous gas is heartbreaking. The bereaved family will be provided assistance of Rs.4 lakh each from the Chief Minister’s Voluntary Grant Fund,” the CM stated.
