Five labourers including three brothers died after inhaling a suspected poisonous gas at a factory in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, a government official said.

The incident took place at the Sakshi Food Products factory in Dhanela area of the district.

Gas started emanating from a tank inside the factory around 11 am and two labourers entered it to check it, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Bhupendra Singh Kushwaha told PTI.

They took ill after inhaling the gas. Three more labourers got affected subsequently, he said.

All of them were rushed to the district hospital where civil surgeon Gajendra Singh Tomar declared them dead and sent the bodies for autopsy, the official added.

The factory makes processed cherries and sugar-free chemicals used in food products.

The deceased were identified as brothers Ramavtar Gurjar (35), Ramnaresh Gurjar (40) and Veersingh Gurjar (30), all residents of Tiktoli village; Ganesh Gurjar (40) and Girraj Gurjar (28).

After the incident, district officials got the factory vacated and further probe was on.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan expressed grief over the deaths, an official said.

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