A 48-year-old man died last weekend while trying to recover his mobile phone which had fallen into a manhole in the town of Zottegem in East Flanders, according to our colleagues from The newspapaer.
Jeroen De Smet went to the annual Sint-Maria-Oudenhove fair on Saturday. His girlfriend had left the place a little earlier. A friend of Jeroen had then offered to drive him home, but he decided to go home alone, on foot.
According to the police, Jeroen De Smet dropped his mobile phone into a manhole below the sidewalk. A couple driving by saw him trying to retrieve his phone but when they passed him once more, following parking their car, the victim’s inert body was lying in the manhole. The upper body was partially sunk into the hole. The couple tried to get the body out, to no avail. They called the emergency services but unfortunately it was already too late.
“The victim did try to retrieve his phone by lifting the cover. In doing so, he became unwell from the toxic fumes that came to his face. He then sank with his upper body partly in the air. ‘sewer”explains Wendy Francken, spokesperson for Vlario, the Flemish organization in charge of wastewater management.
This type of accident is very rare but highlights the dangers that products spilled into sewers may contain. “We recommend that you never recover a phone or keys that have fallen into a manhole by yourself. Dangerous gases can always accumulate in the manhole.s “she explains. “ This is why garbage collectors are specifically trained for this type of incident and should be called first. They have specialized equipment to combat these toxic fumes.”
Sewage gases may thus include hydrogen sulphide, ammonia, methane or nitrogen oxide. The parents of the victim are now trying to find out the identity of the people who rescued their son.
