Two migrant workers die in Kerala fishing boat gas inhalation incident

Two migrant workers from West Bengal have died following a suspected gas inhalation incident aboard a fishing boat at Beypore harbour in Kozhikode, Kerala.

The victims, identified as Dileep Sur and Sachin Das, collapsed while working inside the cold storage chamber of the vessel named Tesla. Sur passed away at a private hospital on Friday afternoon, while Das succumbed to his injuries in the early hours of Sunday.

Preliminary investigations by police and a postmortem examination suggest the deaths may have been caused by the inhalation of poisonous gases released by chemicals used for fish preservation. The police surgeon also noted that low oxygen levels within the enclosed chamber could be a contributing factor.

Authorities have registered a case for unnatural death and are awaiting chemical analysis of samples to confirm the exact cause. Police stated that the boat owner may be named as an accused depending on the findings of the ongoing investigation. The vessel was reportedly carrying fish intended for fertilizer production at the time of the incident.