Shimla, July 31 - Three people were killed in a Himachal Pradesh town while cleaning a septic tank, police said Friday.

'Three labourers were killed on the spot Thursday night while cleaning a septic tank at McLeodganj,' Kangra Superintendent of Police Atul Kumar Fulzele told IANS on phone.

McLeodganj, about 250 km from state capital Shimla, is located near Dharamsala -- home of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

A police officer said one labourer accidentally fell into the septic tank while cleaning it. The other two entered to bring him out, but they too fainted and died due to asphyxiation.

'It took more than five hours to bring out the bodies of the three men. A case has been registered against the contractor who hired the labourers,' Fulzele said.