Haryana: 3 of family fall into septic tank, die

The family members raised the alarm, following which his man’s older brother also jumped into the tank and fell unconscious.

Three members of a family died after they fell into a 20-foot-deep septic tank in Bichhore village of Nuh on Tuesday. The incident took place around 8am when an eight-year-old boy, who was playing nearby, fell into the tank and his father jumped in to save him and lost consciousness after inhaling the poisonous fumes, police said.

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The family members raised the alarm, following which his man’s older brother also jumped into the tank and fell unconscious. The three were taken to a nearby local hospital where doctors declared them brought dead.

The deceased were identified as Arif (8), Siraju (30) and Salamu (35).

The villagers, however, did not inform the police and buried the bodies within a few hours of the incident. It was the hospital authorities who informed the police, who said they are looking into the incident, but no case has been registered yet. When asked, the family said they feared that the police would have taken action against them for the deaths and hence did not report them.

Shakir Hussain, one of the relatives, said Arif was playing on the slab over the septic tank which gave way and he fell in. His father was standing nearby and he jumped in to save the boy. “The father’s older brother also jumped in to pull them out but he also fell unconscious. Neighbours and relatives gathered but no one was ready to go in as the fumes were clearly toxic. After a few minutes, a few neighbours somehow pulled the three of them out,” he said.