Bhopal, Dec 14 (IANS): Two staffers of a private firm working with Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) allegedly died of suffocation in a sewage manhole in the city, police said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred on Monday in Bhopal's Laukhedi area, which falls under the BMC (Bhopal Municipal Corporation) when the two were measuring the depth of a manhole of a sewage line.

As per the police, Deepak Kumar Singh (28), an engineer hailing from Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, and his assistant Bharat Singh (22) of Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh had descended into the manhole to measure its depth.

They were associated with a Gujarat based firm - Ankita Construction Company, which had bagged a contract in 2018 from BMC for laying a sewage line.

The incident came to light after a passerby noticed a man lying unresponsive inside the manhole and alerted the police. Subsequently, a police team along with the staff of BMC rushed and pulled out the man - later identified as Deepak - from a depth of 20 feet. They then searched the manhole after seeing two slippers close by and found another man dead inside.

Reportedly, no safety equipment was found at the spot. Urban development and housing minister Bhupendra Singh Thakur has ordered an inquiry into the incident. The minister has asked MBC to submit a report by Tuesday.

"BMC has formed two separate teams to investigate the matter and the final investigation reports are likely to be ready by today (Tuesday) evening," said a BMC official on Tuesday.