Four die after inhaling septic tank gas

Four people lost their lives after inhaling toxic gas while attempting to retrieve a mobile phone from a septic tank in the remote Harinchhara tea garden of Moulvibazar's Sreemangal upazila early yesterday.

The victims are Rana Nayek, 17, Shraban Nayek, 19, Krishna Rabidas, 20, and Nipen Fulmali, 27. Their families work in different tea gardens.

Another injured, Rabi Banerjee, was undergoing treatment at Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital.

According to locals and relatives, the mobile phone accidentally fell into a makeshift toilet around 1:30am. In an attempt to recover it, one of the victims entered the tank and immediately lost consciousness, reportedly due to the presence of toxic gas.

"The victims went down one after another to rescue each other, but none of them made it out," said Dulal Fulmali, a relative of victim Nipen, who was the father of two young daughters and his family's sole breadwinner.

Sabyasachi Pal Tamal of Moulvibazar 250-bed General Hospital said the four were brought dead. Another youth was later admitted with serious injuries, and he was referred to Sylhet for better treatment.

Aminul Islam, officer-in-charge of Sreemangal Police Station, told this correspondent, "An investigation is underway to determine the exact cause of the deaths."