Three dead as falling down into drainage pit in east China city

NANJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Three workers died after falling into a drainage pit Sunday morning in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, local government authorities said.

The accident happened around 6:13 a.m. when the three workers were clearing drainage pipelines. They fell into a 6-meter-deep pit, with harmful methane gas in it, said authorities with Nanjing municipal government.

The three were confirmed dead after being pulled out around 7:40 a.m. by rescuers.