Two persons — a worker and a contractor — died after inhaling toxic gas while cleaning an underground drainage line in Rajkot.
Mehul Mehda, 24, a sanitation worker, entered the underground sewer in an industrial area and fainted after inhaling the poisonous gas. The contractor Afzal Kukur, 42, who was present at the spot during the cleaning operation entered the sewer to rescue Mehda, but he too fell unconscious.
Both were taken out with the help of fire brigade and shifted to the civil hospital, where doctors declared them brought dead.
Recently, the State government had informed the Legislative Assembly that 11 sanitation workers died of asphyxiation while cleaning sewers in different parts of the State in the last two years. Accordingly, seven persons died between January 2021 and January 2022, four lost their lives between January 2022 and January 2023, Gujarat Social and Justice and Empowerment Minister Bhanuben Babariya said in the State Assembly.