Cuttack, June 9: Two brothers died of suffocation while trying to clean a well at Kazipatna on the outskirts of the city today.

The deceased have been identified as Habik Mirza Beg, 25, and his brother Daka Mirza Beg, 24.

The incident occurred around 8.30am today at Kazipatna, which falls in Sadar police limits. Police sources said Habik was trapped inside the well while trying to clean up the well that had almost dried up.

Daka entered the well in an attempt to rescue him but ended up becoming trapped too. When villagers saw that neither of the brothers had surfaced from the well for a long time, they initiated rescue efforts.

“We tried to pull both the youths up to the surface using ropes, but failed. We immediately called up the fire brigade, but they were late in arriving,” said Dalit Mirza Beg, 29, brother of the duo.

“My brother-in-law who had entered the well to rescue my husband. However, both of them died of suffocation because of the delay in carrying out rescue operation,” said Habik’s wife Mini Biwi, 26.

The family members alleged that the fire brigade had arrived at the spot almost an hour after the distress call.

However, the fire officers said they were not late in responding to the call.

“The well was 40-ft deep and there was no oxygen inside, because of which the duo died of suffocation. We sent our men inside the well twice but they failed to go deep inside as they had trouble breathing,” said assistant station officer Laxmidhar Pradhan.