Overview
- One worker entered an old underground water tank to clean it and fell unconscious, and three others entered in sequence trying to rescue him and also lost consciousness, with all four later declared dead at Silchar Medical College and Hospital.
- The incident took place on Friday in the Kumarpara/Joynagar area on the outskirts of Silchar and local responders, the SDRF, NDRF and police recovered the bodies from the tank.
- Cachar police have registered an investigation and detained the property owner, identified as Gautam Paul, while the victims’ bodies were sent for post‑mortem and experts work to determine if oxygen depletion or a toxic gas was the cause.
- Local residents protested, saying workers were sent into the confined space without ventilation, gas detection or protective gear, and the DDMA is preparing a report that could support compensation for the families.
- The deaths follow a separate deadly industrial blast in Cachar earlier that week and have renewed attention on workplace and site safety for informal daily‑wage workers who clean wells and tanks without formal safety measures.