A woman and her father-in-law died of suffocation after falling into a septic tank in Berhampur village under Tirtol police limits on Sunday.
Sources said Karima Bibi (25) was drying clothes by standing on the slab of the septic tank when the slab, which was in a dilapidated condition, collapsed and Bibi fell into it. Hearing her scream, her father-in-law Sheikh Kalam (50) rushed to the spot to rescue her, but he too fell into the tank. Bibi’s mother-in-law Fatima and a relative Sk Raja also fell into the tank while trying to rescue the two.
The villagers rescued the four and rushed them to Raghunathpur hospital. While Kalam and Bibi died on the way, Fatima and Sk Raja have been shifted to the SCB Medical at Cuttack where her condition is stated to be critical. A case has been registered.