Joshua Parfitt
TWO plumbers have tragically died after attempting to repair a septic tank at an urbanisation on Spain’s Costa Blanca.
The workers, aged 59 and 38, were repairing a pump in a communal septic tank servicing the Castalla International urbanisation – also known as El Campellos – in Castalla, near Alcoy.
Sources explained that four workers from local firm Pallisa arrived at the tank that receives waste via various sewage canals in the urbanisation.
The first introduced himself into the 3m-deep septic tank around 5pm on Tuesday afternoon, before losing consciousness. A second worker went in after to help him, before also falling victim to toxic fumes.
A third worker then went in, this time with harnesses attached, and was pulled out after also falling unconscious.
Guardia Civil and Policia Local were first to arrive at the scene, where they retrieved the lifeless body of one of the workers. Firefighters then arrived to rescue the other.
The firefighters reportedly analysed the air inside the septic tank, which they found ‘incompatible’ with human life.
Guardia Civil have opened an investigation into the deaths.
