M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, May 7: Toxic gas in a well took two lives at village Bhusi under Sadar block of Palamu on Saturday.
The deceased have been identified as Ram Chandra Chowdhury alias Tilangi Chowdhury (42) and Ajay Singh alias Patali Singh (40).
According to SDPO Surjit Kumar, both bodies were retrieved after many efforts with the help of locals. Their autopsy would be done at the MMCH Daltonganj today.
The SDPO further said that Tilangi went into the well first to catch Banger fish. He started suffocating inside a few minutes later. To rescue him, Patali went inside the well but had a similar bout of suffocation.
One more villager tried to get into the well but midway he felt uneasiness in breathing and came out of the well alive.
A local resident Dharmender Kumar, who is a quack, said the well is not an unused one. “Today also, its water was pumped out with the help of a motor pump,” he said.
The water pumping today caused depletion in the well and it is feared either methane or carbon dioxide filled inside which proved fatal for the two victims.
SDPO Surjit Kumar said he also found a couple of fish floating dead in the well. He leaned over the well and could get a whiff of some gaseous feeling too.
Notably, Banger fish is reared in wells here in Palamu.
