Three workers die of suffocation in Ariyalur, police detain house owner

The police have detained the owner of an under construction house where three workers died of suffocation while removing wooden planks / supporting framework from a newly constructed septic tank at Sendurai in Ariyalur district on Friday.

Ariyalur District Collector N. Mirunalini has said that steps would be taken to provide compensation to the bereaved families.

Police identified the victims as K. Bhaskar, 42, of Srinivasapuram in Tiruvarur district; K. Dhinakaran, 60, of Alivalam village in Tiruvarur district and K. Ramachandran, 45, of Nakkampadi village in Ariyalur district.

Police sources said the three were engaged by M. Subramanian for the construction of his house at Vallalar Nagar in Sendurai. Bhaskar and Dhinakaran had been working as masons at the house while Ramachandran was engaged for carpentry work. 

An eight-foot deep septic tank had been constructed behind the building.  On Friday morning, the three victims entered the septic tank and fell unconscious one after the other, said police sources. 

The sources said Subramanian informed the police and firefighters to rescue the three labourers. Firefighters rescued the three from the septic tank and took them to the Government Hospital, Sendurai. The duty doctor declared that all the three persons had died after examining them.  The bodies were later sent for autopsy to the Government Hospital at Ariyalur. The Sendurai police have registered a case under Sections 290 of BNS and detained Subramanian.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu AITUC has demanded the State government to provide ₹30 lakh as compensation to each of the three bereaved families. In a statement, AITUC Tamil Nadu general secretary M. Radhakrishnan said action should be taken against those responsible for negligence leading to the three deaths.