Bhubaneswar, Dec 15 (IANS): Two workers asphyxiated to death while another is in critical condition at a brick kiln factory in Dhenkanal district of Odisha.

The deceased were identified as Bisra Kunkul and Rasae Banara of Pallahara in Angul district of the state. The incident took place on late Thursday night.

The deceased persons and the injured -- indentified as Kande Banara -- belong to the same village in Pallahara. They used to stay in a house at the brick kiln unit in Manapur village.

“The deceased were sleeping with a diesel generator running inside the house at the unit. They might have died of suffocation due to smoke emanating from the generator. On Friday morning, the two bodies were recovered while another person was found seriously ill,” said Dhenkanal SP, Gyana Ranjan Mohapatra.

The worker is in critical condition and was rushed to Angul District Headquarters Hospital but later shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack for advanced treatment.

Locals said the deceased might have run the generator to charge their mobile phone due to power outage on Thursday night. Later, they fell asleep forgetting to switch off the generator.