Two persons who were engaged in cleaning a wastewater tank of an onion export unit in Pandeeswaram near Avadi were killed after they inhaled poisonous gas.
Avadi Police said Natraj was operating an onion drying and export unit-cum-warehouse in Pandeswaram on the Arakkambakkam Road near Avadi. In this facility, onions are washed, sliced and after being mechanically dried, packaged into pouches, and exported to various foreign countries, including Singapore and Malaysia. The wastewater generated from washing the onions is collected and stored in a 15-foot-deep tank located in the premises.
On Sunday, the company engaged two persons Vijay, 34, and Arun, 30, both residents of Kalaignar Nagar in Pandeswaram for regular cleaning of the vegetable wastewater tank. The duo inhaled the gas while cleaning the tank and collapsed.
The Muthapudupet police, on being informed about the accident, sent the bodies to the Kilpauk Government Hospital for a post mortem.
Officials from the Avadi Fire Department, forensic experts, revenue department officials, and electricity department are conducting any inquiry into the cause of the accident. Meanwhile the Muthapudupet police have filed a case against the warehouse owner, Natraj.
