Worker cleaning sewer line dies, 2 brothers jump in to save him; 1 loses life, other critical

As per preliminary information furnished by the BMC, the incident took place at the under-construction Raheja Towers at Malad (West), belonging to K Raheja Realty, at 3.50 pm.

When Solanki fainted inside the sewer, Akib Mendi Hasan Shaikh, 19, who was playing nearby, jumped in to save him. When he didn’t respond, Akib’s brother Javed jumped in to save both and died inhaling the gases. His teenager brother has been admitted to Trauma Care Hospital where his condition is stated to be critical, officials said.

Ravindra Ambulgekar, chief fire officer (CFO) of Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB), told The Indian Express, “Initially, one person went down to clean the drain where he fainted owing to toxic gases… When he did not respond or come out, the people outside called for help. One person in the vicinity went in to help him but he also got trapped, when his brother went down. It was only after that that they called the fire brigade.”

The building where a worker and another person died inside a sewer line in Mumbai on Wednesday. (Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)

Ambulgekar confirmed that when the fire personnel recovered the bodies it was found that the men were not wearing any safety gear. “They died due to inhalation of marsh gas, which is highly toxic,” he added. Two men were declared “brought dead” to  the hospital, while the teenager is critical, he said.

According to Kiran Dighavkar, Assistant Municipal Commissioner, “There was a choke-up in the sewer line, which was situated on private land. Through a private contractor, a person was roped in to carry out the cleaning work.”

Amina Mendi Hasan Shaikh, sister of Javed and Akib, said that her brothers got into trouble trying to save the life of a person. A resident of Pimpripada, Amina claimed that Akib rushed to the spot after the watchman cried out for help.

“My brother was playing nearby when the watchmen came rushing and said that a person got trapped inside. To help the worker, my brother went down and got trapped… It was then that my elder brother Javed rushed to save Akib… and it ended up killing him,” said Amina.

Police said that they may book the plumbing supervisor on charges of causing death by negligence, while a senior BMC official said, “Since this is a case of manual scavenging in a private property, the FIR will be filed by the state government’s labour department.”

Unlike open drains, sewer lines have toxic gases generated over a period of time. Officials from the solid waste management department said that whenever someone goes into such closed aras of sewage sludge, they get affected by toxic gases.

Despite attempts, K Raheja Realty couldn’t be reached for a comment.