In a tragic incident, four brothers drowned in a septic tank in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam district on Saturday, police said.
Another member of the family was critical in Upamaka village in Nakkapalli 'mandal' (block) of the district.
The deceased have been identified as K. Krishna, K. Appa Rao, K. Nageswara Rao and K. Rajasekhar.
According to reports, Appa Rao constructed a new septic tank that was around 9-feet deep, and he wanted to close the old septic tank that already existed in his house. As he entered the new tank and drilled a hole in the old tank which was full, poisonous gases engulfed him and he became unconscious.
According to the police, as Appa Rao started drowning, three of his brothers jumped in to save him but lost their own lives in the process. Another member of the family fell unconscious and was shifted to a local hospital.
The police said that a case had been registered under Section 174 of the CrPC and further investigation was ongoing. The bodies were shifted to a government hospital for a post-mortem.
The issue was also brought to the issue of state Home Minister N Chinarajappa’s instructions who instructed the local joint collector and Payakaraopeta MLA to visit the family and assure them that compensation would be doled out to the kin of the deceased.
In February this year, seven workers died after they were made to clean a septic tank at a private hatchery in Chittoor district. The hatchery was located in the Kolla Farm locality of Moram village in Palamaner mandal.
According to local media reports, eight workers fell unconscious minutes after they entered the septic tank. They were immediately shifted to a government hospital in Palamaner by colleagues. However, four of the workers were declared brought dead at the hospital, and three others succumbed during emergency treatment at the hospital.
IANS inputs