Overview
- Workers employed through contractor Nelco entered a Nano Filter wastewater tank that receives discharge from the plant’s BMB-3 process and were overcome by a toxic atmosphere inside the unit.
- One worker opened the tank lid and fell in after inhaling gas, a second worker was overcome while attempting a rescue, and a third alerted the factory safety team before also being affected.
- The factory safety team removed the three workers and gave first aid at an on-site health centre, but doctors at a Hosur hospital declared all three dead on arrival.
- Rayakottai police visited the Marie Gold factory near Ullukurukkai, launched an investigation and sent the bodies to the Government Medical College Hospital in Krishnagiri for post-mortem exams.
- The case has focused attention on confined-space entry rules, routine gas testing, availability of protective and rescue equipment, and how outsourced workers are trained and supervised, which could prompt regulatory review and changes at similar plants.