Daijiworld Media Network - Madhya Pradesh

Khandwa, Apr 3: In a tragic incident in Kondavat village of Chaigaon Makhan in Khandwa district, eight people lost their lives on Thursday after entering a well to clean it for immersions during the Gangour Mata festival. Officials reported that the victims likely succumbed to toxic gases emanating from the water.

According to Khandwa Collector Rishav Gupta and SP Manoj Kumar Rai, the incident occurred around 4 pm. Initially, five villagers entered the well, but when they became trapped, three others joined in an attempt to rescue them. All eight individuals later died, with authorities attributing the fatalities to the inhalation of poisonous gas that had accumulated in the largely unused well.

State Disaster Emergency Response Force personnel, local police, and villagers launched a four-hour rescue operation. Eventually, the bodies were retrieved and sent for post-mortem examination.

Officials explained that the well, normally inactive throughout the year, had been cleaned only for the annual festival. The prolonged period of disuse likely allowed toxic gases to build up inside the water body.

The district administration has announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of each victim. The deceased have been identified as Mohan (55), Anil Patel (30), Sharan Sukhram (30), Arjun (35), Gajanand (25), Baliram (36), Rakesh (22), and Ajay (25).