Two of three sweepers rescued from manhole in Landhi

One sweeper died but two others were rescued after the three climbed down a manhole in the Landhi neighbourhood on Sunday and fell unconscious. The incident occurred near the Babar Market area in Majeed Colony.

The Landhi police said that first one of the sweepers climbed down the 15-feet-deep manhole and fell unconscious due to some poisonous gas, adding that later two more went down to rescue him but fell unconscious themselves.

The officials said that rescue workers were called in and they, with the help of the locals, managed to rescue two of them. They were taken to the hospital in a serious condition. SHO Manzur Arain said the sweepers who were rescued were identified as Michael and Riaz, while the third as 40-year-old Rafiq Masih, son of Murad Masih, residents of Sector 1D in Christian Colony and employees of the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board (KWSB).

The officer said the victims did not have any proper equipment and were sent down the manhole with the help of only a rope, adding that first one of the sweepers fell in while doing some cleaning work and then two others fell in while attempting to rescue their colleague.

Their families claimed that the KWSB had called them in to work despite Sunday being their day off, threatening them that their pay will be cut if they refused to work. They said their supervisors had escaped from the scene shortly after the three fell in.

The family of the deceased said he had four daughters and that his body was fished out after rescue operation with the help of heavy machinery continued for four hours. They also held a sit-in demonstration on the road near the Babar Market against the incident, blocking the flow of traffic for hours and demanding strict action against the officials concerned.