Man, sons die of asphyxiation

A man and his two sons died of asphyxiation after getting trapped inside a manhole outside their house at Majra village in the district on Wednesday. The deceased have been identified as Mahabir Singh and his sons Laxman and Deepak.

The incident occurred in the morning when Laxman attempted to open a manhole outside the house to clear a blocked sewer. Upon lifting the lid, he inhaled toxic gas and fell into the manhole. Mahabir Singh entered the manhole to rescue his son, but did not come out. Moments later, Deepak, Mahabir’s elder son, descended into the sewer in a desperate attempt to save the duo. He, too, got trapped in the sewer and did not survive.

Panic gripped the neighbourhood as local residents came to know of the incident. They rushed to the spot and alerted the police. Fire brigade also arrived promptly. All three men were pulled out of the sewer and rushed to PGIMS, where doctors declared them brought dead.

Santosh Devi, the grieving wife of Mahabir Singh, recounted the devastating sequence of events. “My son Laxman went out in the morning to open the manhole lid because the sewer line had been blocked for several days. He fell into the sewer while doing so. My husband saw it happen and immediately climbed down to save him, but he too didn’t return. Then, Deepak went in to rescue both and he also got trapped,” she said tearfully.

Santosh Devi added that her husband was a retired Army man. Laxman worked at a bike repair shop and while Deepak was employed at a private firm in Rohtak. Their eldest son, Rajkumar, is also employed.

Inspector Mahesh Kumar, SHO of IMT Police Station, stated that preliminary investigation suggested asphyxiation due to toxic gases as the cause of death. “The exact cause will be confirmed through the autopsy report. The bodies have been handed over to the family after post mortem. No FIR has been registered yet, as the family has not filed a complaint,” he added.

Following the incident, local resident Manjeet alleged that the village sewer system had been clogged for several days and municipal workers had come to clean it, despite repeated complaints to local councillor.

“The sewer lines are badly blocked, with bricks and stones lodged inside, causing frequent backflow in household drains. The tragedy could have been avoided had the authorities taken timely action to clean the sewers,” he said.

Meanwhile, DSP Ravi Khundia has appealed to the local residents to report any sewer blockages to the authorities concerned instead of attempting to clean lines on their own.

Haryana Tribune