At least seven workers were killed Tuesday and another seven were taken ill after they inhaled poisonous gas while cleaning a septic tank in a private factory in Tamil Nadu's Perundurai town, said police.
"The accident happened today (Tuesday) morning at KPR Mill's dyeing unit. A person went into the tank as a motor was not functioning. He fainted immediately. People immediately climbed down to save him. It seems there was some poisonous gas inside the tank and all of them lost their lives," a police official of Erode district told IANS.
The district is around 400 km from here.
Police said the unit is located inside the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu industrial estate in Perundurai town.
According to the official, the bodies were shifted to a government hospital for post-mortem.