2 dead, 3 injured when snack factory workers try to clean tank in Ahmedabad

Early on Friday morning, five workers of the Samrat Namkeen factory located at Naroda GIDC set out to clean a eight-foot deep water tank. As soon as Sanjay Bheniya, 18, descended into the pipe of the water tank, he started suffocating and called for help. Another worker, Kamlesh Dhanu, 25, climbed down the pipe to save Bheniya. Even Dhanu became uneasy and shouted across to Ashok Sharma, Vinod and Mahesh Dhanu, who were also cleaning the tank. All five men were now inside and struggling to breathe.

The staff of the factory summoned the fire brigade which reached the spot soon after. Ashok, Vinod and Mahesh were the first to be rescued from the tank. One of them was seriously injured in an attempt to reach out to Sanjay and Kamlesh.

However, it was too late for the two workers who were found dead when the fire officials pulled them out from the pipe of the tank. The rescue operation lasted for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, 108 had reached the spot and the three survivors were rushed to Rudraksh Hospital in Krishnagar, Naroda.

According to Naroda polic inspector, MA Vala, “We reached the spot as soon as we received the information. We have recorded the statements of the three survivors who said that all five of them felt extremely suffocated inside. We have registered a complaint of accidental death in the case of Sanjay and Kamlesh.”

HP Mishra, director of an NGO Kamdar Swasthya Suraksha Mandal (KSSM) said, “Supreme Court and Gujarat high court have given orders that workers should not be allowed to go inside a tank unless proper safety measures are followed. The company is at fault for violating these resolutions. Naroda cops has taken my application in this regard.”