Durban - The bodies of the two construction workers who were trapped in a deep sewage drain in Rocklands, Mitchells Plain on Tuesday morning have been recovered, regional emergency services told IOL.
Jermaine Carelse, spokesperson for the Mitchells Plain Fire Service told IOL that one of the bodies was recovered early Wednesday morning, while another was recovered yesterday.
He said that teams responded to the call at around 10am after receiving reports that someone had fallen into a manhole in Rocklands.
Teams from Goodwood and Mitchells Plain attended the call and set up the necessary hoisting equipment for the drain rescue.
“By the time they arrived, someone had already been extricated and taken to hospital, and just after 11.30am, a firefighter and an EMS medic entered the manhole,” Carelse explained.
Given that it was a sewage drain, firefighters had to don special suits to protect them from harmful bacteria and other germs that thrive in those environments.
One firefighter had to be treated for possible contamination from sewage water during Tuesday’s rescue, Carelse said.
“The City’s Fire and Rescue crews were back on the scene before 5am today, Wednesday October 12, to resume operations, and the man’s body was retrieved just after 6am.
“He was declared deceased by medics at 6.20am,” Carelse told IOL in a response.
CVS Construction, a civil engineers firm based in the Western Cape, confirmed that it was their two workers who fell down the drain, but said they could not give out more information due to the sensitive nature of the investigation.
IOL spoke to a witness, Malik Davids, who lives near to where the two workers fell.
David said he heard a commotion while watching TV and went out to see what it was.
“I went to the manhole and they (community members) were all looking down into the manhole.
“Then the supervisor (for the construction worker) went down and tried to get them but not even 10 seconds later, he came out. He couldn’t manage to pull that rope,” Davids told IOL.
A CVS representative told IOL that information on the two employees would be released once their investigations were complete.
IOL