Two young men who were contracted by tenants of a three-storey building in Aba, Abia State, to evacuate their sewage have died inside the pit, leading to the arrest of some of the tenants.
The incident happened on Sunday night at No.10 Powerline, off Omuna Road.
Reports said the deceased, who arrived the compound with their ladder and buckets, were evacuating sewages when tragedy struck.
Reports further said that the ladder they were using, broke into two, resulting in the two workers crashing back into the pit, which eventually resulted in their death.
Responding to the incident, Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA), Aba zone, sealed the three-storey building to allow proper investigation.
The Deputy General Manager of ASEPA Aba zone, Okezie Ezengwa, who confirmed the incident, expressed sadness over the death of the two young men, but blamed the situation on carelessness and unwholesome environmental practices.
“We have been preaching against the use of this manual techniques in evacuating sewage.
“There are approved vendors, why will you use lander to climb into underground and use buckets to scoop sewage and empty into public drains?” Ezengwa asked?
Meanwhile, the corpses of the victims were promptly evacuated and taken to the mortuary.