Three workers die after climbing into septic tank in Bashundhara

Fire service officer Rashedul believes they died after inhaling methane gas from the sealed septic tank

Fire Service have recovered the bodies of three workers from a septic tank of an under-construction house in Dhaka’s Bashundhara residential area.

The bodies were retrieved on Saturday and later handed over to police.

The dead have been identified with single names Rabbi, 20, Liton, 35, and Foridul, 40 -- all hailing from Lalmonirhat District.

Fire Service officer Rashedul Khalid told bdnews24.com that one of the men had first entered the tank to clean it. When he did not return, two others went in to rescue him. None of them came back up, prompting calls to the Fire Service.

“By the time we arrived, locals had already pulled them out, but they were dead. Their bodies have since been handed over to police,” he said.

He added that methane gas forms in septic tanks that have been sealed for a long time, and the three are believed to have died from inhaling it.

Vatara police Sub-Inspector Hasanuzzaman told bdnews24.com that toxic gas is suspected to have caused their deaths, but the exact cause will be confirmed after postmortem examinations.