Five workers, including three brothers, were killed after suspected toxic gas inhalation in a food processing factory in Noorabad of Morena district in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday.
The factory, Sakshi Food Pvt. Ltd, in Jaderua Industrial area close to Dhanela village of Noorabad, reportedly prepares jelly and tutti frutti (colourful confectionery used in bakery items) out of fruit pulp.
One of the workers had gotten down into a storage room where fruits, mainly Papaya pulp, were stored, to clean it. When he fell unconscious, four others got down to the tank one by one and fell unconscious and were reported dead when they were taken to hospital, Bamor sub-divisional officer of police (SDOP) Deepali Sinduria told THE WEEK.
Though there were reports that other workers in the factory had also taken sick and were taken to the hospital, the SDOP said apart from the four deceased, no one else was affected.
The district administration sealed the factory after evacuating it and the forensic team of district police was on the spot to find the reason for the incident. The postmortem of the deceased was also going on, the officer said.
She, however, added that there is suspicion of the presence of toxic gas in the underground storage room as a very bad smell was reported from the site. The deaths might have been due to inhalation of the toxic gas, but would be confirmed only after investigations, Sinduria said.
The deceased have been identified as Ramavatar Gurjar (35), Ramnaresh Gurjar (40), and Dheer Singh Gurjar (30), all sons of Ramkishan Gurjar of Tiktoli village, and Ganesh Gurjar (40) and Giriraj Gurjar (28) of Ghuraiyya Vasai village.
The SDOP said a case will be registered in connection with the incident and action will be taken as per facts emerging from the investigation. The factory belongs to a Goyal family, sources said.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan condoled the deaths, though there has been no announcement of compensation yet. “My heart is pained by the accident due to leakage of poisonous gas in Dhanela village of Morena. My thoughts are with the bereaved family members in this difficult situation of grief. I pray to god to give place to the departed souls in his holy feet and strength to the family members to bear this deep sorrow,” Chouhan posted on social media platform X (formerly, Twitter).
