Two die and two are hospitalized after a welder falls into an Ahmedabad sewage plant tank

Four HNB Agency employees were doing welding work at the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation plant, Divisional Fire Officer SB Jadeja told ANI. The fire brigade's rescue took 45 minutes. IANS identified the dead as a 28-year-old welder and a 40-year-old supervisor. A 39-year-old project manager and a 26-year-old co-worker survived and were admitted to Sola Civil Hospital; ANI described the fourth man as a driver.

Accounts of the first fall differ. ANI said the welder passed out from a buildup of toxic gas and dropped into the plant. IANS said he had finished welding in the pumping unit and lost his footing on a ladder, falling into the sewage, and that the other three lost consciousness from gas while trying to pull him out. Family members told IANS that some laborers were living in makeshift huts on the plant grounds.

Sola police opened an investigation into the cause, the safety equipment on site and the rescue arrangements, IANS reported. Gujarati papers agree each victim's family will get Rs 25 lakh (Rs 2.5 million) but differ on the penalty: Sandesh put the fine on HNB Engineers at Rs 3.5 lakh, Trishul News at Rs 50 lakh. Trishul News said police had registered an accidental-death case, while Sandesh reported no formal complaint against anyone as of Oct. 27.

Rescuers dying after the first victim is a known pattern. A 1986 NIOSH alert found that more than 60% of confined-space deaths were would-be rescuers, and called for testing the air before entry, monitoring it during work and having a rescue plan.