Hyderabad: Two workers suffocated to death inside a drain at Upparpally in Rajendra Nagar on Saturday morning leading to tension in the area. The workers were trying to clean an 18-foot deep drain when they were trapped inside. Rajendranagar police officials said they fainted inside the drain due to lack of oxygen and died before the rescue mission started.
The two labourers were employed by the owners of Imperial Residency apartments to clean the sewer as one of the lines was overflowing due to a blocked manhole. The residents said that despite complaining to the municipal authorities to clean the sewer two months ago, there was no response from the authorities. Thus, they were compelled to call private labourers and get it cleaned.
Beemulu, 23, who first entered the narrow manhole, was trapped inside when the second victim, M. Narayana, 53, got down to rescue him. However, both of them died inside while the people around watched helplessly.
“Beemulu got down into the manhole while Narayana was supervising the cleaning work. When Beemulu started crying for help, Narayana went inside the manhole. However, both of them did not come out for some time. No one could get down to help them as they did not know what was happening inside,” a local source said.
Later, the locals informed the Rajendranagar police, who came to the spot and started a rescue mission with fire officials.
“Unfortunately, the victims were already dead when they were taken out of the manhole,” said Rajendranagar sub-inspector P. Yadaiah Goud.
Locals protested as the rescue attempts from concerned authorities started after much delay. The agitators also demanded action against the house owners, who employed the victims to clean the sewer.
Narayana, who is a resident of Upparpally and a native of Medak district, was a labourer in Imperial Residency. Beemulu, a resident of Shahinagar Colony, Attapur, was a daily wage labourer.
