Palghar, Apr 9 (PTI) Three contract labourers died of suffocation while cleaning a sewage treatment plant (STP) at a housing complex in Palghar district of Maharashtra on Tuesday, police said.

Another labourer was missing, they said.

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The private housing complex in Virar (West) on Mumbai's outskirts has a 25-feet deep sewage treatment plant and labourers were hired to clean it, said a police officer.

The officer at the Virar police station told reporters that four labourers in their 20s entered the plant at around 11.30 am for cleaning it, but did not come out.

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Local fire service personnel were immediately called and they found three bodies in the plant which were pulled out and sent for post-mortem, he said, adding the trio died of suffocation during the cleaning operation.

A search for the fourth labourer was underway, he added.

A case of accidental death was registered and the police were investigating the incident, the officer added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)