MANGALURU: Five labourers from West Bengal working with a fish processing unit in Mangaluru Special Economic Zone died in an accident in the factory’s wastewater tank on Sunday evening. Three of them died on Sunday night and the other two at a hospital in Mangaluru on Monday morning.
Mangaluru City police commissioner N Shashi Kumar told reporters on Monday that the tragedy occurred around 6.10pm when Nizamuddin Alis, 21, collapsed in the 10-foot-deep tank when he was trying to scoop out the waste. Seven others rushed to rescue him. Of them, four died and three survived. Four officials of the company, Shree Ulka LLP, have been taken into custody.
Quoting doctors who provided first aid to the victims, the police commissioner said traces of fish waste were found inside the nose and mouths of the victims. A probe will reveal the exact cause of death, he added.
