Three members of a family died after supposedly inhaling a poisonous gas inside a well in a village in Balumath block of Latehar district on Thursday afternoon.

The incident took place at Palhi Tola village in Balu panchayat of Balumath block where villager Simon Toppo, 45, was using a pump to draw water from a well to irrigate his field.

“According to the villagers, Simon had placed the pump deep inside the well because the level of the water was low. All of a sudden, he spotted smoke belching from the pump, which runs on diesel. Simon tried to go inside the well to bring out the pump and get it repaired but lost consciousness and fell inside the well,” Balumath thana OC Rana Bhanu Pratap Singh.

In a bid to rescue his father, Simon’s son Ashish, 12, rushed into the well and lost consciousness as well, Singh said.

“Ashish was followed by Simon’s nephew Anup, 26, who too lost consciousness. The villagers claim that the trio died by inhaling a poisonous gas coming out from the pump. They were rushed to the Latehar Sadar Hospital where they were declared brought dead. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem,” the OC added.

Anup was the son of Simon’s brother Patrus Toppo.

According to Dr Purushottam Kumar who had examined the deceased at the Latehar Sadar Hospital, inhalation of carbon monoxide could have caused the deaths.

“The diesel water pumps do give out carbon monoxide. As the well outlet was narrow, it is possible that they might have inhaled the poisonous gas and died,” Dr Kumar said.

Balumath block development officer Manish Kumar, who rushed to the spot after receiving the information, said the administration would help the poor family.

“Simon’s and Anup’s families would be paid Rs 20,000 each and Rs 10,000 for conducting the last rites as part of the state government family benefit schemes,” the BDO said.