Family left in disbelief after septic tank deaths

Relative recalls how typical day for his family turned to tragedy as father and brothers were overcome by chemicals.

FUJAIRAH // Residents and authorities in Dibba are calling for greater awareness of the dangers of using harmful chemicals after the deaths of four members of the same family on Saturday.

Saeed Al Suraidi, a 50-year-old father of ten, fainted inside a sewage hole after being exposed to high levels of toxic fumes while cleaning the home network using nitric acid (HNO3) in Rul Dadna, Dibba.

His two sons and his brother-in-law were also overcome by the acid fumes, and all four died while trying to save each other.

“I lost my father and two brothers along with my aunt’s husband in one day and this is a real disaster. No-one in the family can believe or understand what happened,” said Khilfan Al Suraidi, Saeed Al Suraidi’s eldest son.

On Sunday, he recounted the tragic events.

“My father woke up as usual around 5am and decided to go and buy some sheep feed for the farm. He used to enjoy doing that and taking care of the farm animals and trees.

“He came back around 8am and while we were all sleeping, except for my mother, he decided to clear the house sewage pipes by using Al Tizab (nitric acid), which is commonly used for that purpose,” he said.

Mr Al Suraidi said this was not the first time his father had used this kind of acid to clear blocked pipes, but this time he insisted on opening the sewage hole to check if the chemicals were working properly.

“He went down the hole the first time to check if the acid was being effective and then he went down again and that’s when he inhaled the acid fumes and fainted.

“My mother rushed to my brother Ahmad and told him that his father fell in the sewage hole. Ahmad went down to save him, but never back came up,” added Mr Al Suraidi, 24.

Ahmad Al Suraidi a 23-year-old engineering student at United Arab Emirates University, and Abduazziz Al Suraidi, a 22-year-old employee at Abu Dhabi’s Ministry of Interior, died while trying to save their father. Son-in-law Mohammed Al Suraidi, 40, a father of five girls, also died.

One of Dibba’s residents said that sale of such chemicals should be prohibited.

”People should be aware about the dangers of using strong chemicals and acid. It is very dangerous and they should not be sold to anyone unless they are authorised to use it,” said Hussain Rashed, 39.

Dibba Municipality said it had run many awareness campaigns on the misuse of chemicals and acids and will hold more in light of the incident.

“We always work on raising the public awareness regarding the use of chemical acids and advise people to leave it to the experts,” said Abdullah Al Afkham, director of environment and public services at the municipality.

“It’s prohibited to sell or use such chemicals without any permission and there are penalties for violations.”

The municipality sends trucks to empty sewage tanks once per month, or on demand, if needed.

Mr Al Afkham added that nitric acid can only be bought at car repair shops.

Maj Saeed Al Hassani, head of the media department at Fujairah Police, said officers they are investigating the incident.

He urged the public to seek professional assistance before attempting to clean septic tanks.