Two people died and another fell sick when they climbed down in a septic tank to clean it in Panchbibi upazila of Joypurhat this morning.

The deceased are Mohammad Ali, 35, and Naim Hossain, 25, of Shalaipur village in the upazila, reports our Dinajpur correspondent.

Quoting family members and witnesses, Tofayel Hasan, a sub-inspector of Panchbibi Police Station, said house owner Mohammad Ali hired day-labourer Naim to clean his septic tank.

Around 11:30am, Naim and Mohammad Ali opened the cover and got down into the septic tank. But as soon as they landed into the septic tank, they fainted.

As they were not responding, Naim’s brother Zakaria Hossain, 32, also climbed down into the tank and also fell sick, the sub inspector said.

Informed by locals, local Fire Service and Civil Defence rushed to the spot and recovered the bodies.

They also rescued Zakaria in critical condition and sent him to Joypurhat Modern Hospital.