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Six suffocate in fish oil vat in Vietnam processing plant

The first worker lost consciousness and fell in after climbing into the tank to reach the liquid at IDI Seafood company in the Mekong Delta's Dong Thap province on Wednesday, said Colonel Nguyen Thanh Long, director of the Lap Vo district police force.

Six workers suffocated in a vat of fish oil in Vietnam trying to rescue a colleague who fainted while taking samples at a seafood processing plant, officials said.

The first worker lost consciousness and fell in after climbing into the tank to reach the liquid at IDI Seafood company in the Mekong Delta's Dong Thap province on Wednesday, said Colonel Nguyen Thanh Long, director of the Lap Vo district police force.

Several colleagues rushed to help him but also asphyxiated in the air of the tank, where the fermentation of the fish oil had removed most of the oxygen.

Other workers then smashed the tank to get them out, but the first worker and five others died, while the last one to enter the tank was recovered with injuries.

The company process frozen fish fillets and fish oil for export.

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