On May 2, Mahabub Hossain was working at a rawhide processing plant in the Savar Tannery Industrial Estate in Hemayetpur. He was pickling (a method of preparing hides for tanning by immersing in a salt solution) rawhide in a tank, where it is processed in a mixture of chemicals.
Suddenly, the 50-year-old felt sick and lost consciousness. Two of his co-workers — Hasan Mia and Moazzem Miah — went to help him right away. They too fell sick after “inhaling poisonous gas”.
The incident took place around 2:00pm.