Five people, including a man and his two sons, died due to suspected inhalation of poisonous gas inside an unused well in Chhattisgarh's Janjgir-Champa district on Friday, police said.

Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai expressed grief over the incident that occurred in Kikirda village under the Birra police station area in the morning.

He also announced a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of each deceased.

A team from the state disaster response force (SDRF) fished out the bodies from the well, they said.

Ramchandra Jaiswal (60), Ramesh Patel (50), his two sons Rajendra (20) and Jitendra (25), and Tikeshwar Chandra (25) have died in the incident, Inspector General of Police (Bilaspur Range) Sanjeev Shukla said.

As per preliminary information, Jaiswal entered the 30-foot deep well on the premises of his house to retrieve a wooden strip that had fallen in, he said.

When Jaiswal fainted, his wife shouted for help, following which three others from the Patel family in the neighbourhood entered the water body, he said.

When none of them came out, Chandra entered the well, but he also fell unconscious, prompting locals to alert the police, the official said.

Prima facie, it appears that the men died after inhaling some poisonous gas inside the well. However, the exact cause of the deaths will be known after the autopsy, an official from the district administration said.

"The first man (Jaiswal) entered the well, and after inhaling some poisonous gas, he fell into the water and died. Four others entered the well to save him and lost their lives," he said.

The SDRF team has retrieved the bodies, and they have been sent for post-mortem, he said.

Under provisions of the Revenue Book Circular, compensation will be provided to their kin, and other financial assistance will also be extended, he added.

In a post in Hindi on 'X', the chief minister said, "Received information about the tragic death of five people after coming in contact with poisonous gas in a well in Kikirda village of Janjgir. I announce a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of each deceased." The state government is ready to provide all possible assistance to the affected families, he said.

According to official sources, the old ring well had not been used for around four months since Jaiswal had dug a borewell in his house.

The well was around 30 feet deep and had water up to 5 feet, they said.

The owner had used wooden strips to cover the opening of the well, and following thunderstorms and rains in the area in the last few days, one of the strips had fallen in, they said.

Sources said the well was unused for a long time and was covered, resulting in the emission of toxic gas.

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