Sun-Star Cebu: 2 men die in septic tank

CEBU CITY, Philippines –Two men died on Wednesday after saving a co-worker who passed out inside an old septic tank in Barangay Punta Engaño, where a commercial building is being constructed. The man they saved remains confined in a hospital in Lapu-Lapu City, where he is being treated for inhaling hazardous gases. like the methane, that had accumulated in the tank. The victims belonged to a group of more than 10 people whom the JCM Septic Manual Services hired on Tuesday night to drain the septic tank manually, using pails, because the pipes of the firms truck could not reach the bottom of the tank. They began the working past 11 p.m. It was when they were almost done at 4 a.m. on Wednesday that the accident happened. Ismael Ligedo, 38, volunteered to descend into the septic tank to extract the remaining waste, saying that after years of painting, he was used to dealing with strong odors. 3 minutes After less than three minutes inside the tank, however, he called out for help, saying he could hardly breathe. Dodong Pasete, one of the workers, said that Ricky del Pilar, 32, and Jacko Arriesgado, 24, rushed to Ligedo’s rescue. Arriesgado tied a rope around his body and rappelled down the 4-meter-deep septic tank through a manhole that could accommodate only one man at a time. Arriesgado then tied the rope around Ligedo’s body and called out to his colleagues to pull it up. As his co-workers revived Ligedo, they began to worry about Arriesgado, who failed to come up from the septic tank. Del Pilar went inside to rescue him, but he too suffocated. Department of Labor and Employment Regional Director Elias Cayanong ordered engineer Vicente Aburdo, one of the office’s section heads, to investigate the workers’ conditions. “We only want to find out how risky the workplace was. This is not for the purpose of prosecuting anyone,” he said over dyLA. Construction began at the site last June. The developer hired JCM last Monday night to drain the septic tank of a demolished house, before they break the structure. Help Willy Bola-bola, a supervisor of JCM, said that when he heard their truck’s pipes could not reach the bottom of the tank, he sent the standby workers to help drain it. The truck only pumped out half of the tank’s contents. Bolabola, in a radio dyLA interview, also denied speculations there were no safety gear. He stressed it was an accident, the company’s first, and that no one was to blame. He said it was del Pilar’s mother who “manned” the crew for that night’s work. Ligedo, he added, did not have to descend into the tank. All they had to do was air out the tunnel before pouring chemicals inside it. While still waiting for the police investigation, the company has agreed to shoulder the hospital and burial expenses. Rescue Rene Jorolan, a manager at the Microtel Inn and Suites that is under construction, noticed the commotion and called up the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation for help. One of the workers, Pasete, said it took the rescue team about 20 minutes to pull the bodies of del Pilar and Arriesgado, because the manhole could fit only one person at a time. “Pagkanaog ni del Pilar sa septic tank amo dayon siyang gisangpit, pero wala na man pod siya makatubag. Ang isog nga baho gikan sa septic tank masingo pa gani namo diri sa gawas (While del Pilar was inside, we called out to him, but he could no longer respond. The stench was so bad that we could smell it from outside the tank),” he said. A source from JCM told Sun.Star Cebu that the management called off work on Wednesday and ordered all its eight trucks to stay in their main office in Barangay Pasil, Cebu City. In July 2003, a woman died after falling into a septic tank in Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City. Four men who tried to save her life also died, after inhaling hazardous gases. - Allan I. Varquez, Sun.Star Cebu