By Doreen Mokgolo
Three plumbers drowned inside a sewage manhole in the Benoni Industrial Site, Ekurhuleni, on Monday evening.
Their bodies were finally retrieved on Tuesday afternoon after a search and rescue operation by members of the metro’s Disaster & Emergency Management Services Department and the SAPS water wing.
The water level in the manhole is five metres deep.
The trio is alleged to have been unblocking the mainline system when they were overcome by methane gas from the pipeline.
William Ntladi, media liaison for Ekurhuleni Emergency Services, said the operation to retrieve the men’s bodies started on Tuesday morning after the emergency services were notified about the plumbers’ entrapment.
“All three were retrieved and declared dead by paramedics at the scene,” he said.
Pictured above: The bodies of the deceased plumbers.
Source: Supplied
