5 of a family die while cleaning septic tank in Maharashtra village

CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: Five members of a family died of asphyxiation and drowning while cleaning a septic tank at a village in Maharashtra's Parbhani district on Thursday, reports Mohammed Akhef.
A sixth person, who was also cleaning the tank along with his relatives, survived.
Parbhani SP Ragasudha R told TOI, "One Vithal Rathod had on Wednesday called Shaikh Sultan to clean the septic tank on his uncle's farm."
Sultan roped in his three brothers, a maternal uncle and his son, and another cousin for the task. The seven men reached the farm around 3.30pm to clean the 7-ft-deep septic tank. The work was almost completed around 9.30pm when one of them slipped into the tank and fell unconscious. To rescue him, the others entered the tank one after the other, but none of them came out. Police said as Sultan called for help, the farm owner and two others reached the spot and brought an excavator to break open the tank. The workers were rushed to a hospital where five of them were declared dead.