Three die of suffocation in jewellery unit

January 23, 2012

jewlry

Surat, January 23: Three workers were found to have died of suffocation caused by gas in a jewellery making unit, functioning since years on Ambaji Road in the walled city area here on Sunday.

Subopal, 22, Rahul Hamaru, 18 and Surbho Kartama, 25, were found dead in the basement of Dhanlakshmi Chamber. The trio had come to Surat from West Bengal and was living alone in the city, having found job in the unit four years ago.

The three were present in the room where one of them had poured a mixture of methyl alcohol and castor oil from a bigger container to a small tub. The mixture is used as a cleaning agent for the jewellery. Blood had come out of the mouth of the victims, whose bodies have been sent for post mortem.

"The unit smelt of gas. Primary investigation has revealed that the trio had died on inhaling gas formed from mixture of methyl alcohol and castor oil," said J M Patel, police inspector, Athwa police station.

"It seems that the containers of methyl alcohol and castor oil had somehow slipped from the hand of one of the workers and spread on the floor, leading to gas formulation. The workers immediately fainted on inhaling the gas," said Pankaj Patel, chief fire officer, Surat Municipal Corporation ( SMC).

Experts said the gas formed by methyl alcohol mixture dehydrates a human body if inhaled.


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