Three men died of asphyxiation in Outer Delhi's Narela area while cleaning a sewer this afternoon, police said.
The deceased have been identified as Ratnesh Jha (25), Vijay (27) and Govind Paswan (30). The incident happened when the trio entered a sewer at Sulabh International toilet near corn market in Narela area.
"As one of the sewers of the toilet had blocked, the sweepers were called to clean it. First, Vijay entered the sewer but he inhaled some poisonous gas and fell unconscious. When he did not come out of the sewer, Ratnesh too went down to check but fell unconscious.
"Govind, who was sitting at a tea shop nearby, got suspicious but he too entered the sewer. He managed to bring Ratnesh out but fell unconscious himself," said a police official.
Police were called to the spot who brought Vijay out of the sewer and took them to a nearby hospital where all three of them were declared brought dead.
A case has been registered, police said.
