NAUSHAHRO FEROZE, Oct 30: A man, his son, their relative and a neighbour died when they jumped into an abandoned well, apparently filled with some poisonous gas, in Bhonger Machi village near Moro on Tuesday.

Muhammad Ramzan, 38, son of Muhammad Bux Machi, first jumped into the well to rescue his goat that had accidentally fallen into it.

A little later, he started calling for help. His son, Maqsood Ali, 20, rushed to the well and jumped into it to save his father but he also started shouting for help.

Ali Asghar, a cousin of Muhammad Ramzan’s, then jumped into the well to help them. So did Zamir Ahmed Soomro, 25, a neighbour of the family.

All four fell unconscious after inhaling poisonous gas and died before any of them could be rescued.

SHO Shamsuddin Burirro of the Leghari police station said that the bodies were taken out of the well with the help of the equipment that had to be acquired from Moro.

He said that the judicial magistrate of Moro and a doctor from the Old Gachero rural health centre arrived at the scene and asked the bereaved families if they would allow a post-mortem examination of the victims.

However, the families chose to take away the bodies without medico-legal formalities.

Two killed in attack

Two persons were killed and three others wounded in an armed attack that ensued after a brawl between a van driver and a group of tribesmen in Kandiaro on Tuesday.

The tribesmen, said to be Kalhoros, engaged in heated arguments with the driver over the matter of a seat in his van destined for Karachi.

The situation turned grave when the tribesmen called out their armed natives by mobile phone.According to the police, another group of people armed with repeater guns arrived at the scene and opened a volley of fire hitting several people sitting at a nearby hotel. Waqar Ahmed, 15, son of Maqbool Ahmed Jatoi, resident of Kandiaro, and Muhammad Essa, 35, son of Muhammad Hashim Panhwar, resident of Daulatpur died on spot, they said.

Muhammad Saffar Ghangro, Muhammad Paryal Panhwar and Rahab Mangrio also sustained bullet wounds and rushed to the Taluka Hospital Kandiaro. Later, Mr Ghangro was shifted to the People’s Medical College Hospital, Nawabshah, due to his precarious condition.

The dead body of Waqar was taken away by his relatives while that of Muhammad Essa was kept in the hospital till filing of this report.

SHO Abdul Hameed Panhwar of the Kandiaro police station said that two suspects, Muhammad Sharif and Muhammad Aslam Kalhoro, were arrested after the firing. He said a police team was chasing the other suspects.

He said that an FIR of the incident would be registered later.