A woman entered a 12-feet deep tank filled with raw material for making tomato sauce to clean the area and slipped and fell into it. Eight of her co-workers jumped into the tank to save her, and six of them, including the woman, died while two are still battling for their lives in the hospital.
The deaths, according to police sources, occurred due to some poisonous gas in the tank.
The incident took place in the Akansha Food Factory late on Wednesday night in Talkatora area in Lucknow.
Around 9 pm, Usha Gupta, a female worker, entered the tank to take out the rotten tomatoes and papaya from it. She slipped on the ladder and fell into the tank. Eight of her co-workers rushed to rescue her from the tank and all of them fell into it. By the time, all of them could be rescued, six had died. The deceased include Usha Gupta Surya Prakash, Dasrath Sahu, Ashraf, Anshu Dixit and one unidentified worker. Two other workesr have been hospitalised and their condition is said to be critical. The Talkatora police has arrested Ritesh Arora, the owner of the factory and have registered a case of negligence against him. The factory, located in Mayapuram Colony, has been sealed. Senior officials reached the site of the accident and tried to pacify the local residents.