Residents take a look at the well in which the two men drowned. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Siliguri, June 9: Two persons drowned in a well at a petrol pump in town this morning, while fire-fighters saved a third who had dived in to rescue the duo.

The petrol pump is located along Hill Cart Road in Mallaguri.

The dead have been identified as Ramchandra Sha (40) and Harikisan Chowrasia (45), said an officer of the Pradhannagar police station. Both worked as cleaners in a travel agency located opposite the petrol pump on the other side of the road.

“Another worker of the agency, Zafir Khan, who tried to save the two, was later pulled out by the fire fighters,” added the officer.

The well is located in a corner of the petrol pump and water drawn from it is used to clean vehicles. The wall around the well rises less than 1ft above the ground and is in a state of disrepair. Today, around 9.45am, Sha went to draw water out of the well with a bucket and fell in.

Chowrasia, who was nearby, jumped in to save Sha, but he, too, went under.

Khan was standing on the other side of the road when he heard shouts from people around the well that two persons had fallen in.

“When I realised that Ramchandra and Hari were the ones in danger, I ran to the spot,” Khan said after he was pulled out of the well by fire fighters.

“I first lowered a steel ladder into the well so that they could climb out. When they did not surface, I went down myself, but soon even I found myself drowning,” Khan added.

By this time, Munna Paswan, the cashier of the petrol pump, had informed the fire brigade.

“We received a call from the petrol pump around 10.20am and rushed to the spot,” said an official of the Siliguri fire brigade.

The fire fighters reached the petrol pump within 15 minutes of the call, said eyewitnesses.

“We rescued one man and pulled out the two bodies,” said the fire brigade official.

When the incident took place, the owner of the pump was not present at the spot.

“It was sometimes after 10am that I was informed about the incident over the telephone,” said Vijay More, the owner of the pump. “We have tried several times to close the well but were prevented by local people, who use it.”

Chandan Dutta, the owner of the travel agency, said the pump owner should take necessary measures to avoid such accidents.

“However, we have not lodged a police complaint against More as yet,” Dutta added.

The officer from of the Pradhannagar police station said they are not going to start a suo-motu case against the pump-owner.