Prayagraj: Two labourers allegedly died of suffocation after entering a sealed, under-construction septic tank at a residential site near the Newada Samogar area under the Industrial Area police station limits on Friday.Police suspect the workers collapsed due to oxygen depletion and toxic methane gas while removing shuttering materials from the tank. The contractor and the house owner have been taken into custody.Upon being alerted, a joint team of police and fire personnel rushed to the spot and carried out a rescue operation.A senior police officer told TOI that the under-construction house belonged to Dharmendra, and police have taken two persons, including the contractor and the house owner, into custody for questioning. The identities of both the labourers are yet to be established. The bodies have been sent for postmortem.Initial police investigations revealed that asphyxiation caused by a buildup of toxic methane gas inside the septic tank, which had remained sealed for 15 days, was the likely cause of death.
