Kalyan, November 1: In a tragic incident, five people died after jumping into a well in Kalyan on Thursday. The list of deceased also includes two rescuers who went into the well. The well is situated inside Bhima Shankar Temple premises, and was closed for days. The incident took place when the temple authority called a labourer to clean the well.

According to reports, Rahul Goswami, one of the trustees of Bhima Shankar temple, had called a labourer to clean the well. There was no response from the labourer as soon as he jumped into the well. Subsequently, Rahul jumped looking for him, but he too drowned in the process. In a bid to save his son, Rahul's father Gunwant Goswami also went into the well, but he too died.

"A labourer entered well to clean it and died due to suffocation. Two trustees who went in to rescue the labourer also died inside. Two fire department officials who had gone into well also died during the rescue operation," Pratap Dighavkar, Thane Additional CP told reporters. He said four bodies were recovered, while search operation for the fifth body was underway.

Speaking on the cause of deaths, Dighavkar said some poisonous gas would have been developed as the well was closed for many days. "For chemical analysis, samples of water have been collected from the well. We've taken samples from a nearby gutter as well which may have sulphur content. Prima facie, it appears gas collected in the well as it was closed for many days," he said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 01, 2018 06:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).