Five maintenance workers died on the Italian island of Sicily on Monday after breathing poisonous gas in a sewer,the local mayor told AFP.
According to local media reports,the victims had been carrying out maintenance work on a sewer system when some of them started to feel sick.
“Five workers have died and a sixth was intubated and taken to hospital,” said Giovanni di Giacinto, mayor of Casteldaccia, near Palermo, Sicily’s cultural and economic capital.
Fire service rescuers pulled the six out of the sewer system but were only able to resuscitate one of them, the reports said.
Di Giacinto said the workers are believed to have breathed in hydrogen sulphide, a naturally occurring gas often associated with waste works, which is toxic at high concentrations.
High levels can cause breathing problems, convulsions, coma and death.
