7 Die While Cleaning Hotel’s Septic Tank in Guj, Owner Absconding

Image used for representational purposes. 

(Photo: Erum Gour/The Quint)

Seven people allegedly died due to suffocation while cleaning a septic tank of Darshan Hotel in Vadodara’s Fartikui village in the wee hours of Saturday, 15 June.

The owner of the hotel, Hassan Abbas Ismail Boraniya, is absconding, and a case of causing death due to negligence has been filed against him.

Among the seven deceased, four were sanitation workers and the other three were hotel employees who had been called for assistance.

“The sanitation workers had been roped in to clean the sewer. When one worker failed to come out of the manhole, others went inside to check, but all of them died of asphyxiation.”

District Collector Kiran Zaveri to PTI

The deceased have been identified as Mahesh Patanwadiya (47), Ashok Harijan (45), Brijesh Harijan (23), Mahesh Harijan (25), Vijay Chaudhary (22), Sahdev Vasava (22) and Ajay Vasava (22).

Due to inhalation of toxic fumes inside the manhole, the workers fell unconscious and died, police said.

After the post-mortem, the bodies were handed over to the kin of the deceased.

Gujarat Govt Announces Financial Assistance

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani expressed his condolences over the death of the seven people and announced financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of the deceased.

In a statement, the government said that it has directed the police to take strict action against the hotel owner.