Two persons died and another fell sick after “inhaling poisonous gas” at a rawhide processing plant in the Savar Tannery Industrial Estate in Hemayetpur yesterday evening.

The dead are Mahabub Hossen, 50, and Hasan Miah, 25. Moazzem Miah, 26, fell critically ill and is undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

Hasan and Moazzem were workers of Prince Leather Industries, while Mahabub, who had rented out a portion of the same factory, used to process rawhide there with his own workers.

At around 2:30pm, Hasan fell unconscious when he was pickling rawhide in a tank, where it is processed in a mixture of chemicals, Abul Kalam Azad, president of Tannery Workers' Association, said.

Mahabub and Moazzem had fallen sick when they went to help Hasan, he added.

Later, other workers rushed to the scene and took the three to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, where Hassan was declared dead.

The other two were referred to DMCH, said Azad, adding that Mahabub was declared dead after being taken there.  

Mohsinul Kadir, officer-in-charge of Savar Model Police Station, said they are primarily suspecting that poisonous gas inhalation and chemical toxicity are the causes of death, adding that they are currently investigating the incident.