Two persons working for a soap manufacturing unit in Tiljala died on Saturday afternoon after falling into an oil tanker that was carrying neem oil to its capacity.
Police said the first person slipped and fell into the tank while trying to measure the volume of the oil, bending down from the top cover of the tanker.
The second followed the same while trying to rescue his colleague from inside the tank.
The oil tanker was stationed outside the main entrance of the manufacturing unit on 7 Tiljala Road when the incident took place around 5.30 in the afternoon.
Almost two hours later, a joint team of the disaster management group, police and the fire brigade managed to pull the two out of the oil tanker.
They were later identified as Loknathan, 33 and Kartick Halder 43.
Both of them were taken to the Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital where doctors declared them “brought dead.”
The police could not confirm who among the two first went to measure the volume of oil inside the tanker.
Eyewitnesses said the workers informed the fire brigade and the police immediately after realising two of their colleagues were missing and had possibly slipped and fallen into the tank.
Officers from Tiljala police station, who reached the incident site, said the tanker was close to 12 feet deep with a row of three small inlets on the top, from which the bodies couldn’t be pulled out.
Finally, the oil tank was cleared of its content and a portion was cut open to reach the two who had possibly suffered asphyxial death because of lack of oxygen.
“The exact cause of death will be known after the post-mortem report reaches us. But it appears there was negligence on the part of the employer,” said a senior police officer of Tiljala police station.
The authorities of the manufacturing unit could not be reached for a reaction to the allegation.
Local residents said the Mumbai-headquartered manufacturing unit would operate between 10am and 9pm every day except Sundays.
The unit would produce soaps and shampoos and raw material would be brought in regularly on oil tankers and trucks from Tamil Nadu.
“We asked the unit head to turn up at the police station on Sunday,” the officer said.