Himmatnagar, Dec 26 (PTI) A 25-year-old worker died of suffocation after he went to clean an area close to a boiler at a milk processing facility near Himmatnagar town of Gujarat’s Sabarkantha district, officials said on Thursday.
Two others who also fainted after they tried to rescue the worker, Kirpalsinh Zala, are being treated in a hospital. The exact cause of the death is yet to be ascertained, they said.
Officials from Sabar Dairy, where the incident took place, have denied the possibility of any gas leak.
“We visited the spot upon learning that three persons were hospitalised after they fainted while working near the boiler. One of them has died and the other two are under treatment. Further investigation is underway,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police AK Patel.
Sabar Dairy, run by the Sabarkantha District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Limited, is associated with the Anand-headquartered Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) which sells its products under the brand Amul.
Subhash Patel, managing director of Sabar Dairy, said this is the first time such an incident has taken in the facility.
“The boiler, which supplies steam to the entire plant, has been operational for the last six years and we have hired a firm for its maintenance. As per the contract, the firm’s workers collect dust from beneath the boiler every eight hours. Today, a worker climbed down to collect the dust, but passed out,” said Patel told reporters.
Two more workers climbed down about 15 feet to save the first worker but they too fell unconscious, said Patel.
“Our staff pulled them up and rushed them to a hospital, where one of the workers died during treatment. That area is an open space. No such incident has ever occurred since the boiler was installed six years ago,” he said. PTI COR PJT NR
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