Three sanitation workers die while cleaning sewer

KARACHI: Three sanitation workers died while cleaning a sewer on Usmanabad Siddiq Wahab Road in the Garden area in Karachi.

According to police, eyewitnesses reported that two workers fell one after another into the deep sewer, followed by a third man who attempted to rescue them but also lost his life.

Edhi sources said a rescue operation was launched immediately, recovering the body of 22-year-old Vishal, son of George, first. The remaining two men, identified as 19-year-old Shahid, son of Khurshid, and 42-year-old George, could not survive.

Their bodies were shifted to the Civil Hospital Trauma Center, while a fourth person, Faisal, who also attempted a rescue, was taken to the hospital in an unconscious state.

Garden police stated the deaths occurred due to suffocation from toxic gases. Locals revealed the victims, reportedly a father and two sons, had descended into the sewer for a cleaning job worth Rs 15,000.

Residents also criticised the lack of proper equipment, noting that even ropes were missing from the Water Corporation’s vehicles during the operation.