Five die after inhaling toxic gas inside well in Uttar Pradesh

16:13 September 08

As many as five people died after inhaling poisonous gas in a well in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda district. The incident happened when they went inside the well to rescue a calf which had fallen accidently..

Gonda (UP): Five people died here on Tuesday after being exposed to toxic gas in a well where locals used to dump the garbage.

The incident took place at Raja Mohalla in the Kotwali police station area while they were rescuing a calf that had fell into it.

According to District Magistrate Nitin Bansal, it was an old and unused well in which people used to dump the garbage.

On Tuesday afternoon, a calf fell into the well. A man went into it using a ladder to pull out the calf, he said, adding that when the calf was rescued, Four other people went down to bring him back but they too fainted, Bansal said.

"The assistance will be given to family members of the deceased as per rules," Bansal added. 

The victims were later taken to the district hospital where doctors declared them dead.

The deceased have been identified as Vaibhav (18), Dinesh (30), Ravi Shankar (36), Vishnu Dayal (35) and Mannu Saini (36).

Police have sent bodies for a post-mortem examination. District Magistrate Nitin Bansal said.

(With inputs from PTI)