Four men have drowned in a manure tank on an Italian farm.
Officials believe three of the men, who were all of Indian descent, were overcome by carbon dioxide gases after they jumped in to rescue the man who fell ill while cleaning the tank.
The accident happened at the Singh dairy farm at Arena Po, roughly 30 miles from Milan.
It is reported that the farm, owned by two of the victims, Prem Singh, 48, and his brother Tarsem Singh, 45, was one of the biggest in the Pavia region.
Two of their farm workers, Arminder Singh, 29, and Majinder Singh, 28, also drowned.
While the farm produced milk and veal, investigators believe the manure was collected to fertilise the fields.
The four men failed to turn up for lunch on Thursday and their wives rushed to the scene, spotting one of the bodies in the manure.
They called the fire brigade who recovered them, covering themselves with specialist equipment so they would not succumb to the fumes.
This year in Italy has seen the highest number of fatalities from work related accidents since 2016 with 486 people dying.
The BBC reported that all four men were of the Sikh faith and full Indian residents from Punjab.
Teresa Bellanova, Italy’s new Agriculture Minister, who had worked on a farm when she was younger, tweeted her condolences, adding that ‘safety at work is an inalienable right.’
