MANSEHRA, Sept 6: Three persons died and four others fainted after inhaling poisonous gas in a well on the Akbar Khan road here on Tuesday.

Reports received here said that mechanic Jalal, an Afghan refugee, had climbed down a well in a vegetable farm along Akbar Khan road to repair an electric motor. When he was not heard for a long time, another young man Faisal went into the well but he also did not return. None of them responded when people gathered around the well called them. Another man, Dilawar, landed into the well but he also did not come up.

Another four people climbed down the well one after another and they also did not return.

A police party came and helped the local people in the rescue operation. The dead and the unconscious were pulled out of the well and taken to the DHQ hospital Mansehra.

In the hospital, however, there was no doctor on emergency duty. Nor there were any arrangement for oxygen or the equipment needed to help the victims.

It infuriated relatives of the victims but the police succeeded in controlling them.

The dead were identified as Jalal Khan, Faisal and Dilawar. Those admitted to the DHQ hospital in unconscious condition include Niyaz Mohammad, Riaz, Jehangir and Gul Mohammad.