The Ujjain hotel tragedy has left four people dead after they were trapped inside a waste chamber at a private hotel on the Ujjain-Dewas road late Saturday night, while two others who entered during the rescue effort fell ill and were hospitalised.
The incident took place at around 11 pm at Shri Ganga Hotel, according to police and district officials. The four deceased were identified as Kamlesh Tamboli, Nitin Valmik, Manoj Meena and Wahid.
Ujjain Superintendent of Police Pradeep Sharma said four people had entered the chamber to clean it but became trapped inside. They apparently died of suffocation, he said. Police personnel pulled them out and administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but they could not be revived. Doctors at a hospital later declared them dead.
Officials said the circumstances of the incident were still being investigated. Ujjain District Magistrate Roshan Kumar Singh said the administration would establish whether the workers had entered the waste chamber for cleaning or had fallen into it accidentally. Further action would be taken based on the findings of the inquiry.
Two people who entered the chamber in an attempt to rescue those trapped inside were also affected. They were taken to hospital, received initial treatment and were later discharged, police said.
The deaths have brought attention to the risks involved in entering enclosed waste and utility chambers without establishing whether the space is safe for human access. The official account currently identifies suspected suffocation as the cause, but the administration has not yet announced a final finding on the sequence of events or the conditions inside the chamber.
The bodies were sent for post-mortem examination, and the investigation was underway. The probe is expected to establish how the workers entered the chamber, what work was being carried out and the circumstances that led to the deaths.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav expressed grief and announced financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh each for the families of the four deceased. In a post on X, he said he had directed the state government to provide the assistance and conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families.
The administration’s inquiry and the post-mortem reports will determine the next course of action in the case.
