SURAT: Four workers died due to a toxic gas leak during a routine ETP tank cleaning operation at a jewellery unit in the Ashwini Kumar area of Surat, Gujarat, police said on Saturday. A case of accidental death has been registered, and an investigation is underway while authorities await the post-mortem report.According to officials in Surat, the incident occurred early in the morning when a team of four labourers was engaged in cleaning a septic tank that collects waste from jewellery-cleaning processes. The sludge accumulated in the tank is periodically cleared as part of routine maintenance, typically carried out every two months.Deputy commissioner of police (Zone-1) Alok Kumar said preliminary investigation, including CCTV footage review, suggests that none of the workers were using the required safety equipment during the operation.“The waste product of the jewellery cleaning flows into a septic tank, which undergoes regular cleaning to remove the accumulated sludge. This cleaning operation is carried out every 2 months. This morning, a team of 4 people went there to perform the cleaning. During the process, one man fell into the tank, and the other labourers who went to rescue him also fell in,” Alok said.Police said the tragedy unfolded when one worker slipped and fell into the tank during the cleaning operation. In an attempt to rescue him, the other workers entered the confined space one after another, but all four were overcome inside the tank and died.“A total of four deaths have been reported. We are currently registering a case of accidental death. Preliminary examination of CCTV footage does not reveal the presence of any required safety equipment, prima facie, chemical poisoning seems to be the cause, as sudden deaths resulting from asphyxiation in such contexts often involve chemical poisoning. However, we cannot state this definitively until the doctor’s post-mortem report confirms the cause of death,it happened early in the morning while they were there to carry out the cleaning. They lacked the proper gear required for handling and removing this sludge, which is why this poisoning incident occurred,” Alok added.
