New Delhi: Six men died of alleged suffocation in the Cantonment area here after they slept in a huge container, which also had a lit tandoor inside, to keep themselves warm, police said. The men committed a fatal error of judgement when they failed to put out the tandoor and closed the container lid before going to sleep late last night, they said. According to the police, the victims worked with a caterer and had come to the Cantonment area for preparing food at a wedding function. 

After they finished work last night, they went to sleep in the container in which they had brought the utensils. They also kept the tandoor inside the container to keep themselves warm, police said. Nirmal Singh, their supervisor, woke up late night and tried to wake them up. When they did not respond, he informed the police. 

The deceased have been identified as Rudrapur residents Amit, Pankaj, Anil, Nepal resident Kamal and Gorakhpur residents Avadhlal and Deep Chand, a police officer said. The men were rushed to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital where Amit, Pankaj, Anil and Kamal were declared brought dead. 

Avadhlal and Deep Chand died this evening during treatment. The police said the deaths might have happened due to absence of ventilation. "Carbon monoxide was formed inside the container. It is suspected that the victims died of suffocation," the officer said. Police have registered a case and have sent the bodies for postmortem to ascertain the cause of the deaths.