Five die while rescuing calf from well in UP's Gonda

LUCKNOW: Five people, including four members of a family, died when they jumped into a well for saving a calf in Kotwali area of Gonda on Tuesday evening.
The calf was rescued but those who had entered the well to save it inhaled poisonous methane gas and lost their lives, police said. The calf didn't belong to any of the deceased.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath condoled the deaths and announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the bereaved family members.
The incident took place in Raja Mohallah under Maharajganj police outpost of Kotwali police station area.
The deceased were identified as Vaibhav (18), Dinesh aka Chotu (30), Ravishankar aka Rinku (36) and Vishnu Dayal (35) of Maharajganj area and Mannu Saini (35) of Bhadua Tarhar area of the district.
Dinesh and Ravishankar were brothers and the sole breadwinners of the family. Vishnu was a cousin of Dinesh and Ravi, while Vaibhav was their distant relative. Mannu hailed from another village and died while trying to rescue them.
SP Gonda Raj Karan Nayyar, who also rushed to the spot to supervise the investigation, said the deceased eked out their living by selling fruits and vegetables.
The officer said their post-mortem examination was underway, while prima facie it appears all the five died after inhaling methane gas.
Gonda district magistrate Nitin Bansal said the calf fell in the well that was lying defunct. “Around 3pm on Tuesday, Vishnu heard a calf’s bawling from the well. He went down to rescue the calf. When he failed, he raised an alarm. Later, Vaibhav also scaled down to assist Vishnu,” said Alok Rao, SHO Kotwali.
Vaibhav also got trapped and cried for help, following which Dinesh and Ravishankar joined them, said Rao.
Later, the calf was rescued but the men remained trapped inside the well. Hearing their shrieks, Saini, a passer-by, went inside the well but didn’t come out. The villagers finally reached the spot after hearing their screams and informed the police. The firemen and police were able to retrieve the bodies after a two-hour operation.