Swapan Kumar Singh:

Four people have died after they went down to try and recover a mobile phone that had fallen into a septic tank in Moulvibazar's Sreemangal Upazila on Wednesday night. The incident happened around 11pm
on Wednesay at Harinchhara tea estate the upazila, said Sreemangal Police Station Officer-in-Charge Aminul Islam (OC) confirmed this information on Thursday (July 10) morning.

The deceased are-Krishna Robi Das, 20, ShrabanNayek 18, Nipen Phulamali
27 and Rana Nayek, 16 - all workers
of the Harinchhara tea estate of Finlay Tea Company.

The other victim, Robi Bunarjee, 20, from the same tea garden, has been hospitalised with illness.Family sources said the five entered the septic tank to recover a mobile phone that fell into the tank.

OC Aminul said after the five fell ill, they were rescued and taken to Sreemangal Upazila Health Complex and later shifted to Moulvibazar Sadar Hospital where four of them were pronounced dead by
physicians.

Sreemangal Upazila Nirbahi Officer and Sreemangal Police Station Administration and the central leader of the newly formed political party NCP, Pritam Das, visited the scene and expressed condolences to the bereaved family members.

It is to be noted that toxic gas is produced inside the septic tank of the toilet and there is a lack of oxygen.

The decomposition of waste in the septic tank produces toxic gases such as methane, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide. These gases are very harmful to human health. In addition, it is initially believed that death may occur due to suffocation due to the decrease in the amount of oxygen inside the tank.