9 suffocate to death in Chhattisgarh gas-filled wells in twin tragedy

RAIPUR: Nine persons suffocated to death in two tragedies when they entered gas-filled wells in Chhattisgarh's Janjgir-Champa and Korba districts to save each other. As many as five people - including a father and two sons - died in Janjgir-Champa district while four members of a family, including a minor girl, lost their lives in Korba district. Govt announced Rs 9 lakh compensation per victim.
In Janjgir-Champa's Kikirda village, 160km from Raipur, the well wasn't in use and had been covered up for years, leading to the accumulation of toxic gases that had turned it into a death chamber, officials said. The well was sealed with a wooden board that a recent thunderstorm had tossed aside. While trying to cover it up again, farmer Ramchandra Jayaswal (60) saw a small wooden slab inside the well and decided to remove it. He climbed into the 40ft-deep well and became the first casualty.