Three drown in septic tanks in Nakaseke, Nakasongola

At least three people have drowned in septic tanks in separate incidents in Nakaseke and Nakasongola district.

The latest victim has been identified as Tony Ganda, a 39-year-old resident of Kikondo village in Semuto town council in Nakaseke district who drowned on Friday afternoon.

Isah Ssemwogerere the Savannah Regional Police Spokesperson explains that Ganda died while he was trying to help a friend to remove a pump that had fallen in the septic tank.

Ssemwogerere adds that Ganda entered into the septic tank but failed to get oxygen and died there.

Ssemwogerere said that policemen from Kalege Police Post went to the scene and removed the dead body before it was taken to the mortuary at Nakaseke hospital.

Others are Isaac Olo aged 25 years and Peter Wangoli aged 45 years who also drowned at Ochidi House Farm located at Kikangula village in Wabinyonyi sub county in Nakasongola on Wednesday.

The third person identified as Joseph Mitwa survived and he was taken to Nakasongola Health Center IV for treatment.

Jonathan Akweteireho the Nakasongola Deputy Resident District Commissioner says Police preliminary investigations indicate that the three suffocated to death while cleaning the septic tanks.

Akweteireho cautioned residents to avoid entering inside the tanks without safety gear because many others could die of the same.

Charles Daniel Ssenyimba the district councilor for Wabinyonyi sub-county asked the farm owners to always hire septic engineers and seek guidance from the district water offices to clean them because the incidents were the result of a lack of knowledge on what the deceased were doing.

The dead who perished at Ochidi Farm have since been transferred to their ancestral homes in Soroti district for burial.

Police in Nakaseke and Nakasongola intend to summon the owners of the septic tanks to record statements on the deaths.