India, Sept. 18 -- NEW DELHI

A 35-year-old daily wage labourer died and two others were critically injured as they fainted upon entering a sewer to lay pipes in Ashok Vihar on Tuesday night, police said. Survivors, meanwhile, said that they were not provided safety gear for the work allotted by a contractor of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).

Police said that the victims inhaled poisonous gases inside the manhole, leading to the death of one of them, but they are awaiting autopsy reports to confirm it. A case has been registered under provisions of causing death by negligence and endangering life of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and under sections of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act at Ashok Vihar...