A man was asphyxiated in Alapakkam on Wednesday while he was cleaning the well of a house.
The police said Nithya, owner of the house located in Bagyalakashmi Nagar, had hired two workers to clean a 30 foot well in her house. The water was mixed with sewage due to a leak from a sewerage pipeline, which runs along the well. The workers, Ravi, 52, and Kasi, 50, from Maduravoyal, began work early on Wednesday. In the process, they inhaled noxious fumes and fell unconscious, the police said.
Neighbours alerted the personnel of the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services, and the duo were retrieved from the well. Ravi was found dead while the unconscious Kasi was rushed to a hospital.
Personnel from the Maduravoyal police station registered a case and sent the body to the Government Kilpauk Hospital for a post-mortem examination.