7 persons, including 4 sanitation workers, die of suffocation cleaning Gujarat hotel drain

Vadodara: Seven people, including four sanitation workers, allegedly died of suffocation while cleaning a closed septic tank of a hotel in Dabhoi town of Vadodara district in Gujarat on Saturday.

The incident occurred at Darshan hotel in Dabhoi's Fartikui village where three hotel staff and four sanitation workers choked to death due to an alleged gas leak in the septic tank in which they had entered, police said.

"We rushed to the site soon after learning about the incident and teams of the fire brigade from Vadodara Municipal Corporation and Dabhoi civic body launched rescue work. They took out the bodies of the deceased after three hours of efforts," in-charge district collector Kiran Zaveri told news agency PTI.

A case has been registered in this regard and the dead bodies were sent for post-mortem. Later, they were handed over to the kin of the deceased.

The owner of the hotel, Hassan Abbas Ismail Boraniya fled the spot after the incident The local police have launched a search to nab the hotel manager.

Talking to PTI, BJP MLA Shailesh Mehta, who represents the Dabhoi Assembly constituency, said the incident shows sheer disregard for the safety of the workers.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat government announced financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of the deceased. In a statement, the government said that it has directed the police to take strict action against the hotel owner.

 

(With PTI inputs)