Karwar: Locals, on Saturday, alleged that it was due to the lack of safety gears provided by the contractors that resulted in the death of the two members who were cleaning the sewage chambers of INS Vikarmaditya Naval Ship, in Karwar on Friday.

The two members died after inhaling poisonous gases.

The autopsy of both the victims-Mohandas Kolambakar, a resident of Mudagad in Karwar and Rakesh Kumar of Patna in Bihar was held at the civil hospital on Karwar on Saturday. Arrangements have been made to send the body of Kumar to his hometown.

Shouting slogans

The locals expressed their anger against the Contractor Abdul Hameed Khan, owner of the Royal Marine Company, by shouting slogans against him when the bodies were brought to the hospital of autopsy.

They charged that the accident took place between the contractors failed to provide safety gears for the workers.

“It is due to their (contractors) negligence, which has resulted in this tragedy, so they have to provide compensation to the family members of the deceased,” they argued.

The locals also further demanded that the government, which spends lakhs of rupees for the maintenance of the ship to provide suitable compensation to the contract workers.

The locals were further infuriated after Khan said that Mohandas joined the job just three days before and he would get compensation under the group insurance that the company has opted for.