2 construction workers drown in well while trying to retrieve bucket

Two labourers working at a construction site in Ile-Ife, Osun State, have drowned.

The construction workers, whose identities could not be immediately ascertained, were on Thursday, June 8, 2024, brought out dead from a well after they drowned while attempting to retrieve a bucket.

It was gathered that the incident happened around 1:09 pm at a construction site located opposite Ilesa Motor Park along the Ife-Ilesa Expressway in Ile-Ife, Osun State.

A source, who preferred anonymity, stated that the fetcher that the labourers used to fetch water dropped inside the well. One of the two men had entered the well in an attempt to retrieve the fetcher but did not come out.

The sources further said the second labourer, having sensed that his partner was drowned, also entered the well to rescue him, but got stuck inside. This led to tension in the area as people present were said to have contacted operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and officials of the Federal Fire Service for assistance.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the NSCDC, Osun State Command, Kehinde Adeleke saidtheoperatives of the corps and men of the Federal Fire Service retrieved the corpses of the labourers from the well.

His words: "A tragic incident happened today, Thursday, June 6, 2024, opposite Ilesa Motor Park along Ife-Ilesa road, Ile-Ife around 1:09 pm. Two middle-aged men from Iwo were engaged as workmen on a building project opposite Ilesa Motor Park, Ile-Ife.

"The unfortunate incident happened when the two workmen were fetching water from a deep well and the fetcher accidentally fell into the well.

"According to eyewitness accounts, one of the workmen, in an attempt to retrieve the fetcher, entered the well, but unfortunately he got trapped and drowned.

"An attempt at rescue made by the second workman got him drowned inside the deep well also."

He added that the corpses of the two men were retrieved through the joint efforts of the NSCDC and Federal Fire Service operatives.