Water department worker drowns in tank he was cleaning

TUZ KHURMATU — A water department employee died after slipping into a storage tank he was cleaning at the Tuz Khurmatu water project, officials said.

Shakir Mahmoud, 48, from Sulaiman Beg subdistrict, was opening the top of the tank when he fell, said Ismail Mustafa, director of the Tuz Khurmatu Water Department. “While descending using the stairs, his foot slipped and he fell into the tank,” he said. Teams began emptying the tanks and Mahmoud was pulled out, but he died before reaching hospital.

Asaad Khalil, the doctor on duty at Sulaiman Beg Hospital, said an initial examination gave the cause of death as drowning.