Four farmers died of asphyxiation after inhaling poisonous gases when they entered a 12-feet drainage chamber here to draw water for agricultural purposes, police said.
According to Deputy Superintendent of Police, Vivek Patil the incident took place after a farmer, identified as Sakharam Baburao Shinde (55), went inside the chamber with an electrical pump set.
When there was no response from him for some time, other farmer Navnath Bhausaheb Shelke (50) entered the chamber, followed by Ananda Gopinath More (40) and Bandu Mindhar (37), the official said.
All of them were found dead after fire brigade personnel reached the spot and broke the chamber.
All the victims hailed from Rui village.
The bodies have been sent to the rural hospital at Rahata near Shirdi for post-mortem.
