Five labourers suffocated to death while cleaning a water tank in an under-construction building in south Mumbai on Sunday, officials said.

The incident occurred at Bismillah Space building located on Dimtimkar Road in the Nagpada area around 12.30 pm, they said.

Five workers entered a water tank to clean it but passed out inside while doing the job, said a fire official.

Others at the construction site alerted the fire brigade, which rescued the five men and rushed them to the state-run JJ hospital. However, doctors declared them dead, said an official.

Officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and local police have reached the spot and a probe is underway, said a police official. More details are awaited.

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