Four Students Die After Entering Tank at Vrindavan Gurukulam

Four students died and a fifth survived after the students entered an underground water tank at a residential Sanskrit gurukulam in Vrindavan, Mathura district, officials said. The students were overcome inside the tank, and the survivor was receiving medical care. Authorities suspect toxic gas, but had not established the cause of the deaths in the reports available Wednesday. The incident occurred Tuesday night, October 6, at Panini Sanskrit Gurukulam in the Chaitanya Vihar area. Police said one student went into the tank first and did not return. Four others entered afterward, apparently attempting to help him. All five were eventually pulled out and taken to a hospital, where four were declared dead. District Magistrate Chandra Prakash Singh said poisonous gas may have accumulated inside the tank. The tank was described as about 12 feet deep in most reports, with one official account giving a range of 12 to 14 feet. Reports said students had noticed a foul smell; some accounts said water had been drained with a motor before they entered to clean the remaining area. The precise sequence and circumstances remain under investigation.