The fire service today issued a statement on the two deaths that occurred in a septic tank at Hyde Park, Timehri last night.
The Guyana Fire and Rescue Service received a call at 21:32 pm last evening and was summoned to Hyde Park Timehri, EBD to assist in the extraction of two persons who had fallen into a septic tank.
However, when ranks arrived at the location two persons were seen lying motionless in the septic tank.
Firefighters managed to cut open the tank and retrieve the duo who were suspected to have died by that time.
According to a Police report 42-year-old Camille Dwarka was going to the toilet when her niece Anita Joseph heard her screaming and went to her rescue.
Upon checking she discovered that her aunt had fallen into the septic tank.
She then called out for 51-year-old Ramlall Madhoo who jumped into the septic tank to rescue his wife but was unable to do so.
The niece then went and looked into the septic tank and noticed that both bodies were motionless.
The bodies were seen and examined by police but no marks of violence were seen on the most exposed parts of their bodies.
The bodies were then uplifted by the undertakers from Memorial Funeral Home and escorted to Diamond Diagnostic Centre where they were both pronounced dead by the doctor on duty.
The bodies are both presently lying at Memorial Funeral Home awaiting post mortem examination.
In light of this tragedy the Guyana Fire Service would like to advise citizens that septic tanks should be cleaned on a relatively regular basis.
The average household septic tank should be inspected at least every three years by a septic service professional.
The lack of cleaning and maintenance to septic tanks can present serious hazards including septic cave-in’s or collapses, methane gas explosion hazards and asphyxiation hazards as well as risks of unsanitary conditions such as bacterial or viral infections.
Please follow these safety rules at all times:
– Never lean over a septic tank opening or stick your head into the tank to examine its interior – you could become overcome by gases, fall into the tank, and suffocate.
– Leave tank cleaning and repairs to trained professionals.
– Never enter a septic tank unless you are specially trained and are wearing special equipment and gear for that purpose, including a self-contained breathing apparatus.
– Do not go into a septic tank to retrieve someone who has fallen in and was overcome by gases unless you are equipped with a self-contained breathing apparatus. Instead, call for emergency services and put one or more fans at the top of the septic tank to blow in fresh air.
– Never work alone in or around a septic tank.
– Don’t ignite flames or smoke cigarettes at or near the tank. This can cause an explosion.
– Be sure that the tank and its access ports have sound and secure covers that do not risk collapse and which cannot be removed or nudged aside by children or animals.
– Beware of old, collapsing septic systems.
– Watch out for evidence of sinking soil, rusted-through steel septic tank covers, home-made wooden or flimsy tank covers, or home made cesspools and dry wells which risk collapsing.
