4 Afghan workers die after inhaling toxic gases in southern Iran

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) - Four Afghan laborers died after inhaling toxic gas inside a septic tank at a waste collection center in Iran’s southern Shiraz city, local officials said Sunday.

Hadi Eidipour, the head of Shiraz municipality’s fire service, was quoted as saying by local media that four Afghan workers died after one of them was trapped inside and others went to save him.

The incident took place at around 9:15 a.m. local time on Sunday in the village of Gachi, Eidipour said, after which fire brigades and rescue teams were dispatched to the scene.

He said the preliminary investigation suggests the incident took place at a plastic waste collection center, where five Afghan workers were trapped inside a septic well.

While four of them died from the inhalation of toxic gases, the fifth one survived and is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital, according to media reports.

All of them were from the same family – a 64-year-old father and his three sons aged 25, 27, 34.

Eidipour said the septic tank contained many toxic gases, including hydrogen sulfide, methane and carbon dioxide, and there was no ventilation which led to the poisoning of four workers.