MP: 4, Including 3 of a Family, Die After Inhaling Toxic Gas in Dry Well

Bhopal: Four people including three members of a family on Friday died after being exposed to suspected toxic gas in a dry well in Chhatarpur district in Madhya Pradesh, police said.

The tragedy took place in the village of Kurraha under Garhi Malhara police station, Chhatarpur district superintendent of police Agam Jain said.

According to the police, the incident happened when the dry well in the house of one Sheikh Basir (65) in the village was being covered with a concrete platform.

Mason Muna Kushwah’s hammer fell into the well in the process, leading him to enter the well to retrieve it.

The house owner Basir got suspicious when Kushwaha (45) did not turn up and even failed to respond to his call and went into the well to ascertain his fate.

His son Sheikh Aslam (37) also entered the well when he found that neither his father nor the mason showed up.

Aslam also did not turn up, forcing Basir’s nephew Altab (21) to go into the well to rescue them.

When all the four did not turn up, the family members of Basir raised the alarm leading the villagers to inform the police on the incident.

Later, bodies of the four people were taken out of the well by the police.

“Four people in the village of Kurraha died after getting unconscious in a well. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem. Probe was on into the incident”, the police officer said.

Preliminary police investigation suggested that the four people might have succumbed to a poisonous gas leaking in the well, sources said.

However, the exact cause of death could be ascertained in the post-mortem reports, police said.