Four plumbers and two policemen died from gas poisoning in a well in the province of Samarkand in eastern Uzbekistan, the press-uz.info news website said on Wednesday.
The plumbers were overcome by gas fumes while lowering themselves into the well to repair a water pipe in the province's Yangier district, the site cited the emergency situations ministry of this Central Asian state as saying.
"Two policemen who arrived to help the plumbers and tried to help the men were also poisoned by the gas accumulated in the well," the report said.
The bodies of all six men were pulled out by rescuers and an official investigation into the incident is underway, it said.