Four die entering septic, water storage tanks in Chattogram

Four people have died after entering two different underground tanks in Chattogram. Among them, two had entered a septic tank to clean while two others descended to clean water tank. Police said they died after inhaling toxic gases.

The two separate incidents occurred today, Friday, in the afternoon at Raozan upazila and at Dhaniyalapara area under Double Mooring police station, in the city.

In Raozan, the deceased have been identified as Pradeep Dash (35) and Samiran Nath (27). Pradeep's home is in the Kochukhain village of Raozan. Samiran was a resident of the Kadhurkhil village at Boalkhali upazila.

According to Raozan police station OC Mohammad Saiful Islam, construction workers Pradeep and Shah Alam were deployed by a home owner Mintu Dash in Jhikutipara village to work in a septic tank of an under-construction building. The house is located at Noapara Union of Raozan. First, Shah Alam got down into the tank. After he fell ill upon entering, Pradeep went down to rescue him.

But Pradeep could not climb back out of the tank. He became unconscious. Upon receiving the news, his brother-in-law Samiran went down into the tank to pull him out. With the help of locals, Pradeep was pulled out of the tank. However, Samiran fell unconscious. Upon receiving the news, fire service personnel went and rescued him.

Pradeep and Samiran were taken to a private hospital in Noapara, where doctors declared them dead. The OC said Shah Alam is currently undergoing treatment at that hospital.

OC Saiful Islam said the septic tank was also under construction. He added that the tank had some water in it. Shah Alam and Pradeep had actually gone there to drain out the water and empty the tank. Toxic gas may have accumulated there. That is why all three fell ill after entering the tank."

Abdullah Al Mamun, sub-officer of the Raozan fire station who went to the scene, said, "The tank was 8 to 10 feet deep. The water was not very deep. However, we believe they died after being affected by toxic gas inside the tank."

In the Dhaniyalapara area of the city, the deceased are Shakib and Hriday. They were aged 25 or 26 years old each, according to Double Mooring police station OC Shahinur Islam.

OC Shahinur stated, "Two construction workers had entered an under-construction water storage tank in Dhaniyalapara to remove the steel structure. After both fell unconscious there, locals informed the fire service. Fire personnel rescued them and took them to Chattogram Medical College Hospital around 4:45 PM. But, doctors declared them dead."

"The post-mortem of the bodies has been completed. We believe they died after being affected by gas inside the tank. Still, we are investigating to see if there are any other reasons."

Earlier, on 20 June, four members of an ethnic minority community died in Tangail's Madhupur upazila while trying to rescue a goat that had fallen into an abandoned septic tank.

The deceased were identified as Gabriel Nakrek (45), Ratan Nakrek (25), Bablu Hadima (35), and Neymar Mro (10). All of their homes were in the Jali village of Madhupur upazila.

Exactly one month earlier, on 20 May, four people had died in Brahmanbaria while cleaning a septic tank. Four labourers died after entering a septic tank to work in Sarail, Brahmanbaria. The incident occurred in the afternoon at Galania West Para area of Kalikachchh, Sarail. Sarail police station OC Manjur Kader Bhuiya confirmed the information.