VADODARA: Seven people, including three hotel employees and four sanitation workers, died after inhaling toxic fumes while cleaning the sewer of a hotel in Vadodara on Saturday, officials said.
According to the police, the incident occurred at 12.30 am at the Darshan Hotel in Fartikui village of Dabhoi tehsil, around 30 km from Vadodara city.
“The sanitation workers had been roped in to clean the sewer. When one worker failed to come out of the manhole, others went inside to check, but all of them died of asphyxiation,” said district collector Kiran Zaveri.
Teams of fire brigades from Vadodara Municipal Corporation and Dabhoi civic body took out the bodies, he added. BJP MLA Shailesh Mehta from Dabhoi, said the incident shows sheer disregard for the safety of the workers.
Meanwhile, the Gujarat government announced financial assistance of `4 lakh each to the kin of the deceased. The government also directed the police to take strict action against the hotel owner, Hassan Abbas Ismail Boraniya, who is absconding. The bodies of the sanitation workers were handed over to their family in nearby Thuvavi village after post-mortem.