KARWAR: Two fisherman workers died while three people fell sick after inhaling poisonous gas emanating from rotten Chaman fish in a boat at Mudga port in Karwar taluk of Uttara Kannada district.
The deceased are Purandhar Bisar (21) and Akash Naik (24) originally from Odisha. Lalinder Dhruv (41) from Odisha who fell sick, is in serious condition while Rabul, a worker, and another worker are undergoing treatment in a hospital in Ankola.
Early on Saturday morning, the boat, belonging to Krishna originally from Malpe, came to Mudga port to unload fish. After unloading the fish catch in the port, five workers went inside boat to clean it. At this time, five workers collapsed after inhaling poisonous gas of Chaman fish. Though three people were rescued immediately, two died in the boat itself.
Following the death of fisherman workers, a team of 30 NDRF men and the police isolated the boat. After checking with a multi-detector, the NDRF team detected 100 per cent hydrogen sulphate poisonous gas in the boat.
NDRF Inspector Vinod Kumar told Public TV, “Only 10 per cent hydrogen sulphate should be there, but more than 100 per cent gas has filled the boat. Even if a matchstick is struck, it will catch fire. We have checked the boat storage and it will open three days. This is very dangerous gas”.
