Couple suffocates to death near brick kiln in Vellore
The Hindu
Couple suffocates to death near brick kiln in Vellore
A 42-year-old man S. Deivasigamani and his wife Amulu, 36, died allegedly due to suffocation on Tuesday after smoke from a brick kiln engulfed a store room near the kiln, in which they were sleeping, at Puthur village near Kaniyambadi town in Vellore district in the early hours of Tuesday.
According to the police, the couple, who hailed from Puthur village, had taken on lease the brick kiln belonging to K. Palani Mudaliyar for over 15 years. Their children were at their house, located nearly 1.5 km from the kiln.
Around 9 p.m on Monday, the couple had lit fire to burn the bricks in the chambers and went into a nearby store room to take rest. The top portion of the brick kiln and the room were covered with tarpaulin to prevent strong winds from putting out the fire. However, due to heavy rain in the village, the fire was put down and thick smoke from the chambers engulfed the small room leading to the couple getting suffocated, the police added.
Around 5 a.m, K. Srinivasan, 50, owner of another brick kiln located in the vicinity, saw the smoke and rushed to the store room where he found the couple lying unconscious. Along with some of the locals, he shifted them to the Government Medical College Hospital. Deivasigamani was declared brought dead and Amulu died in the hospital. Their bodies were sent for postmortem. A case has been registered by the Vellore Taluk police.
Revenue officials, led by K. Senthil, Tahsildar (Vellore), inspected the brick kiln to inquire if license was obtained by the owner and safety measures were in place. Further investigation is on, the police added.