Three die of asphyxiation in Kovai sewage tank

COIMBATORE: Banned manual scavenging continued to be a killer in the State, this time asphyxiating three youth who entered a sewage plant at a gold smithery unit at RS Puram in the city on Friday. 
R Gowrishankar (21), a resident of Nambiazhaganpalayam near Vedapatti and M Ezhumalai (23), from Kandasamy Gounder Street at Rathinapuri, were hired to clean the sewage tank in the basement of the private gold smithery unit. Around 1.30 am, when the youth started yelling for help, P Suryakumar (23), a security guard at the unit, entered the septic tank to offer aid.

But the toxic fumes got Suryakumar as well. Before he collapsed, he managed to alert his colleagues on the ground. By the time other workers at the unit rushed in and informed the fire and rescue personnel, it was too late. Gowrishankar and Ezhumalai died on the spot while Suryakumar was taken to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital in a critical condition, where he died shortly thereafter. Waste water and chemicals used for cleaning gold get collected in a tank, which is cleaned yearly or by-yearly, depending on the size of the unit. This is done to segregate gold from the waste.