Hyderabad: Two labourers died after being trapped in a manhole at Koti on Sunday afternoon. The two were working to remove a blockage in the sewer pipeline. When one person collapsed inside, another person got down to rescue him. But both of them fell unconscious and died inside the manhole. Officials suspect that lethal methane gas present inside caused the instant death of the victims.
Meanwhile, HMWS&SB officials clarified that they had not called or engaged the labourers to clean the manhole and they are investigating who made the victims get inside the manhole.
Sultan Bazaar police suspect that local residents or officials from a religious trust engaged the labourers. “The two victims do not belong to HMWS&SB. They were brought from local labour adda. Our Dy GM and other officials went to the spot and reported that no complaint had been recorded in the register regarding any blockage in the manhole.”
Calls of workers to be checked
“Our preliminary inquiry does not reveal who engaged the labourers for the job,” said an official release from the HMWS&SB.
The officials added that Sunday was not a working day for HMWS&SB since it was May Day. The victims were identified as Veera Swamy, 40, and Kotaiah, 38, both natives of Mahbubnagar district.
“The labourers were called by a person who asked them to clean the manhole in Kapadia Lane. They started working in the morning. As per an eyewitness account, one labourer collapsed inside and the other person got down to rescue him. Both died inside in a few minutes. We received a call from locals in the afternoon,” said Sultan Bazaar inspector Shiva Shankar Rao.
Meanwhile, locals alleged that police reached the spot so late that the victims remained inside the manhole for a long time. But, cops denied the allegations. Police have now booked a case of suspicious death and sent the bodies for autopsy.
“We are checking the phone call records of both the victims to find out who called them and put them on the ill fated job,” said the inspector.
