Two killed, multiple injured trying to retrieve cellphone from toilet


Tragedy struck after a woman in China accidentally dropped her phone into an open-pit style toilet.

As reported by the South China Morning Post, the incident took place in Xinxiang city, located in the Henan province. After the woman's cellphone fell into the cesspool, her husband climbed into the open pit that was filled knee-deep with waste to try and retrieve the phone, which had an estimated value of 2,000 yuan ($319 U.S. dollars).

The man was overcome by fumes and fainted. This caused other relatives and neighbors to enter the pit to try and rescue the victims. In total, six people were pulled from the pit. Despite the victims being trapped in the toilet for no more than five minutes, medical care was delayed because an ambulance took over an hour to arrive, according to eyewitnesses.

So far, two victims have died, including the husband of the woman who lost the cellphone. That woman was placed in the intensive care unit. The doctor treating the victims say they suffered from suffocation.

There was no word on whether the phone was recovered.

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