Seven people have died whilst cleaning a hotel sewer in western India, according to local police.

The four sanitation workers and three staff at Darshsan Hotel fell unconscious and died on Friday night after inhaling toxic fumes.

Their bodies have been recovered in the village of Fartikui, and the hotel's owner is reportedly on the run.

Gujarati authorities have pledged financial assistance to the victims' next of kin.

According to police, the incident began after one sanitary worker entered the septic tank. When he did not return from the tank or respond to calls, his three colleagues went in to find him.

Later, when none of the four had come out, three hotel staff went in to help them, but they too fell unconscious and died.

After all seven went missing, local emergency services pulled their bodies out in a three-hour operation.

"All seven were dead as the pressure of gas was high in the tank, but we could bring their bodies out," fire officer Nikunj Azad told local press. </s> Image copyright AFP Image caption The group died of asphyxiation after inhaling toxic fumes from the sewer

Seven people have died whilst cleaning a hotel sewer in western India, according to local police.

The four sanitation workers and three staff at Darshsan Hotel fell unconscious and died on Friday night after inhaling toxic fumes.

Their bodies have been recovered in the village of Fartikui, and the hotel owner has been charged over the deaths.

Gujarati authorities have pledged financial assistance to the victims' next of kin.

According to police, the incident began after one sanitary worker entered the septic tank. When he did not return from the tank or respond to calls, his three colleagues went in to find him.

Later, when none of the four had come out, three hotel staff went in to help them, but they too fell unconscious and died.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Newsnight: Unblocking India's sewers... by hand

After all seven went missing, local emergency services pulled their bodies out in a three-hour operation.

"All seven were dead as the pressure of gas was high in the tank, but we could bring their bodies out," fire officer Nikunj Azad told local press.

Safai Karmachari Andolan - a group campaigning to end manual sanitation work - estimates that nearly 1,800 sewer cleaners have died from suffocation during the last 10 years. </s> VADODARA: Seven persons, including four sanitation workers, died on Saturday after inhaling toxic fumes while cleaning sewer of a hotel in Vadodara district of Gujarat, officials said.

The incident happened shortly after midnight at Darshan Hotel in Fartikui village of Dabhoi tehsil, around 30 kms from Vadodara city, police said.

Three employees of the hotel were also among those killed.

"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," in-charge district collector Kiran Zaveri told PTI.

"We rushed to the site soon after learning about the incident and teams of the fire brigade from Vadodara Municipal Corporation and Dabhoi civic body launched rescue work. They took out the bodies of the deceased after three hours of efforts," he added.

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

The owner of the hotel, Hassan Abbas Ismail Boraniya, is absconding.

Talking to PTI, BJP MLA Shailesh Mehta, who represents the Dabhoi Assembly constituency, said the four sanitation workers were from the nearby Thuvavi village and they were hired to clean the sewer lines.

He added that the incident shows sheer disregard for the safety of the workers.

Police said the incident took place around 12.30 am.

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

Meanwhile, the Gujarat government 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. </s> Seven persons, including four sanitation workers, died due to asphyxiation on Saturday while cleaning the sewer of a hotel in Gujarat’s Vadodara district, officials said.

The incident happened at a hotel in Fartikui village in Dabhoi tehsil, about 30 km from Vadodara city.

Three employees of the hotel were also among those killed. “When one sanitation worker failed to come out of the manhole, others went inside. All of them died due to asphyxiation,” district collector Kiran Zaveri told PTI. </s> Vadodara (Gujarat) [India], June 15 (ANI): Seven people, including 4 sanitation workers, died in Fartikui village allegedly due to suffocation while cleaning a hotel's septic tank in a hotel.

"Seven people fell in the tank and died of suffocation. One person was at the top. He called everyone around for help. The police was also called," said Solanki.

"The hotel owner called the workers at night to clean the septic tank. He should have known an incident was about to happen," said Moffat Bhai Solanki, a relative of two of the victims.

The locals staged a protest to demand justice after the owner closed the hotel gate and fled.(ANI) </s> Seven people died while cleaning a hotel septic tank in India on Friday after going in without safety gear, according to officials.

The incident happened at the Darshsan Hotel in the village of Fartikui shortly after midnight when one worker went into the tank and fell unconscious.

When the worker did not return or respond to calls, three colleagues went in to find him but also did not come back.

PAINTER SURVIVES BEING IMPALED BY BAMBOO SPIKE AFTER FALLING OFF LADDER

Three hotel staffers then went in to find the missing workers, but also ended up falling unconscious when they encountered the toxic fumes.

"All seven died of suffocation as the pressure of gas was high in the tank," Vandodara fire officer Nikunj Azad told the Times of India.

Firefighters had to spend several hours working to pull the bodies out, as the mouth of the tank was so narrow that an excavator had to be used to widen it for the recovery mission.

A police official told Agence France-Presse that the hotel owner has been charged with causing death due to negligence.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Authorities in the Gujarati region have pledged financial assistance to the victims' families, according to the BBC. </s> Seven people, including four sanitation workers, died of suffocation while cleaning a hotel sewer in Gujarat. The men had entered the septic tank without any safety gear, news agency AFP reported.

The incident took place at Darshan Hotel in Fartikui village of Dabhoi tehsil, about 35 km from Vadodara city.

The four sanitation workers were identified as Mahesh Patanwadiya, Ashok Harijan, Brijesh Harijan, Mahesh Harijan. All of them had been called in from Thuvavi in Dabhoi for the job.

Three employees of the hotel, identified as Ajay Vasava (24), Vijay Chauhan (22) and Sahdev Vasava (22), were also among those killed.

“We are investigating what was the exact gas they inhaled and what exactly happened,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dabhoi division) Kalpesh Solanki.

Mahesh Patanwadiya was the first worker to enter the tank but after he stopped responding, Ashok Harijan, Brijesh Harijan, and Mahesh Harijan followed to help him, police officials said. Later, when the four workers did not come out, the other three hotel workers went in but they too fell unconscious inside the tank.

A case has been registered at the Dabhoi Police station. The owner of the hotel has been charged with causing death due to negligence and culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

“This government ( Gujarat ) will spends ₹ 3,000 crores on a statue, but won’t invest in machines to end manual scavenging. The 7 people who lost their lives while cleaning drains in Vadodara, could have been saved has this government got its priorities right” said Jignesh Mevani Dalit activist and Gujarat MLA.

One sanitation worker die every third day in India, according to a report released by an NGO in September last year.

The data by NGO Safai Karmachari Andolan suggests that 221 sanitation workers have died since January 2017.

The Safai Karmachari Andolan claims that the all-India death toll of 666 quoted by the National Commission for Sanitation Workers is misleading.

As per the NGO estimates, a total of 1,760 sanitation workers have died since 1993. This data is based on information collected by the NGO from only 16 states and Union Territories (UTs). </s> Vadodara: Seven people, including four sanitation workers, allegedly died of suffocation while cleaning a closed septic tank of a hotel in Dabhoi town of Vadodara district in Gujarat on Saturday.

The incident occurred at a hotel in Dabhoi's Fartikui village where three hotel staff and four sanitation workers choked to death due to an alleged gas leak in the septic tank in which they had entered.

The manager of the hotel fled from the spot after the incident. A case has been registered in this regard and the dead bodies have been sent for post-mortem.

The local police have launched a search to nab the hotel manager.

This is a developing story. Further details are awaited. </s> An offence of negligence has been registered against the owner of the hotel, Hassan Abbas Bhoraniya, who was arrested on Saturday morning

Vadodara: Around seven persons - four sanitation workers and three employees were asphyxiated to death in the wee hours of Saturday while cleaning the septic tank of a highway hotel in Vadodara district. The police said the incident occurred after midnight at Darshan Hotel in Fartikui village of Dabhoi tehsil which is some 30 km from Vadodara.

The police told reporters that 47-year-old Mahesh Patanwadiya was the first to go inside the septic tank. Others outside got worried when he did not come out for some time despite being called by them. Ashok Harijan, 45, then entered to look for Mahesh, followed by 23-year-old Brijesh Harijan and Mahesh Harijan, 25. When the four sanitation workers didn't come out, the three employees of the hotel, Vijay Chaudhary, Sahadev Vasava and Ajay Vasava, all 22 years old, went inside and reportedly fell unconscious and later died after inhaling toxic fumes.

Their bodies were pulled out after three hours of effort by fire brigade staff of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation who had to go there since the Dabhoi Municipality did not have the equipment to rescue the seven people inside.

An offence of negligence has been registered against the owner of the hotel, Hassan Abbas Bhoraniya, who was arrested on Saturday morning.

The sanitation workers hailed from the nearby Thuvavi village. The state government has announced financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of the deceased. In an official press release, the government stated that it had asked the police to initiate tough action against the hotel owner.
• None Mumbai Crime: Baby kidnapper pretended to be pregnant for 7 months, reveals probe
• None Maharashtra cabinet reshuffle to take place on June 16
• None Mumbai rains: These 15 photos will surely put a smile on your face!
• None Mumbai: Bio-toilets near Gateway of India shut after wind, waves slam it leaving debris on road
• None Mumbai Rains: 100 illegal structures on nullahs razed in five days by BMC
• None Mumbai Rains: Three dead in tree collapse incidents in Jogeshwari, Malad, and Govandi

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
Seven people—four sanitation workers and three staff members—die after inhaling toxic fumes from a Darshsan Hotel sewer cleaning in the village of Fartikui in western India. The hotel owner is charged with the fatalities.