TEHRAN, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Five workers trapped in a crude oil reservoir in western Iran died due to gas poisoning, the official news agency IRNA reported on Sunday.
The workers were trapped in a 20-liter crude reservoir at an oil transfer center of the Kuhdasht County in the Iranian province of Lorestan, public relations director of the Iranian Oil Pipeline and Telecommunication Company Ezzatollah Mir-Hosseini told IRNA.
Five bodies have been spotted in the reservoir but due to poisonous gas, rescuers could not get in immediately to retrieve them, said Kuhdasht County Mohammad Moradi.
According to the IRNA report, the workers, who were the staff of a dredging company, had entered the reservoir Saturday evening to dredge before they passed out there after inhaling toxic gas and substances.
Mir-Hosseini named the victims' identities, stressing that the cause of the incident was under investigation. ■
