Tragedy In Minsk Region, Six People Died In Sewage Well

Residents of Krupki district and rescue officers were poisoned with gas vapors accumulated in a sewage well.

The incident happened yesterday in the village of Kamenka of Krupki district, the Investigative Committee reports. Approximately at about 21:00, a Krupki district resident moved down into a 6 meters long well near his home for cleaning. In the course of the works the man lost consciousness and fell to the bottom. His neighbours tried to render assistance: three men one after another stepped down into the well, lost consciousness and fell down.

The Emergencies Ministry received the report about the incident at 21:54. Rescuers arrived at the scene to assist the victims. They removed the four men’s bodies with no signs of life from the sewage well. Medical professionals pronounced them dead.

In the course of the rescue operation, two emergency workers were poisoned with gas vapors accumulated in the well and were hospitalized. They died in a health institution later without regaining consciousness.

As it turned out, two officers of the Krupki district department of the Emergencies Ministry – lieutenant of internal service Aliaksandr Shymanski and foreman of internal service Andrei Sliborski – stepped down into the well risking their lives. The Emergencies Ministry expresses its deepest condolences to the bereaved families and relatives.

An investigative team of the Main Investigation Department has visited the scene, the Investigative Committee forensic scientist and the department’s mobile crime laboratory are involved.

The investigators carried out examinations of the bodies, appointed forensic examination to determine the exact cause of death. Specialists of the State Committee of forensic examinations, the Emergencies Ministry and the police carried out the incident site inspection. Substance samples contained in the well were recovered from the scene, as well as air samples were taken for chemical research.

All the services work in collaboration to clarify all the circumstances of the tragedy. The investigation is under the personal control of the Chairman of the Investigative Committee.