NAKHON SI THAMMARAT: Two men died after going down to dredge an artesian well in a rubber plantation in Bang Khan district of this southern province on Saturday.
Pol Capt Sansith Hothaisong, a Bangkhan police investigator, said police, accompanied by a doctor from Bang Khan Hospital and rescue workers, went to the rubber plantation in tambon Ban Nikhom on being informed of the incident at 1.30pm.
The two men were seen lying unconscious at the bottom of the old artesian well built with concrete rings. Rescuers descended to the bottom of the well with ropes and brought them up. Both of them had died.
They were identified as Aroon Kidthook, 46, and Surachai Pansin, 38. The two were hired by the owner of the rubber plantation to dredge the well to store water for use during the dry season.
It was believed they might have died from inhaling a kind of toxic gas at the bottom of the well.
An investigation was underway to establish the actual cause of the deaths.