Patna, Aug 16 (IANS): Three persons have died at a village in Bihar's Bhagalpur district after they jumped into a well to save a man but accidentally inhaled toxic gas emitted from it, locals claimed.

The incident happened in Milki village at around 5 p.m. on Monday when one Aashish Kumar Yadav received electric shocks while repairing an electric wire and fell into a nearby well, an official said on Tuesday.

Even as the police said that they were waiting for the post-mortem report to ascertain the cause of death, the residents of Milki village claimed that the deaths happened as toxic gas had accumulated overtime in the well as it was not in use.

An eyewitness recalled that in an attempt to save Aashish, his uncle Horil Yadav, and brothers Jirendra Yadav and Mithun Yadav also jumped into the well but soon, everyone became unconscious.

The villagers, however, managed to rescue them and were taken to a hospital in Shahkund.

Jitendra died on the way to the hospital, while Horil and Mithun died during treatment.

Aashish, who is fortunately alive, is undergoing treatment in the hospital.

"We are waiting for the postmortem report. Once it comes, we will say the actual cause of their deaths," said Pankaj Kumar Jha, SHO of Shahkund Police Station.