Two men die of suspected chemical exposure inside public toilet in Mumbai

Two men lost their lives inside a public toilet from suspected suffocation early on Sunday in Goregaon East, Mumbai, Maharashtra. Following the incident, Vanrai Police have registered cases of accidental death. Additionally, cops are investigating the site where the incident occurred to determine whether a plating workshop located next to the public toilet had any connection to the deaths.

The incident took place at nearly 2.30 am in Shivshankar Nagar, near Ram Mandir railway station. The two deceased, 18-year-old Bhavin Desai and 25-year-old Prabhakar Dhivar, were both members of a local Ganpati mandal. Earlier that Saturday night, they went for dinner with six other mandal members and stayed out late, chatting afterwards. Around 2.30 am, Desai and Dhivar stepped away to use the nearby public toilet.

When the two failed to return after some time, the rest of the group grew concerned and went to check on them. They found Desai and Dhivar unconscious inside the toilet and immediately rushed them to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared them dead. Vanrai Police were subsequently alerted to the incident. "We are investigating whether any gas fumes emerging from the plating workshop caused the two men to suffocate," said a senior police official.