A three-year-old boy has been found dead in a neighbor’s septic tank in Washington. The incident happened as the boy, his four-year-old brother, and his six-year-old neighbor played together in the neighbor’s yard in Lakewood. Reports indicate that the children lifted the lid from the septic tank to investigate its contents, and the younger boy fell in. The other children quickly alerted an adult, who called the police.
Sgt. Darren Moss of Pierce County Sheriff’s Office told reporters that “detectives and forensic investigators were called to the scene to document the incident” but did not comment further or release additional details. Local media stated that the entrance to the septic tank was around three feet in diameter, and the lid was similar to that of a “sewer manhole.” Police also stated that an adult was present but was “in and out of the house.”
A septic tank is an underground chamber usually manufactured from concrete, fiber glass, or plastic and used to collect domestic water waste. Experts say the tanks are an alternative to public sewerage systems and are most often found at remote rural locations. They work because the “bacteria in the tank gradually eat away the sewage, reducing it to almost nothing” and leaving little to drain away.
While the devices are held in high regard by environmental campaigners, others say they have a dark side and can be highly dangerous, particularly for children. Reports of children falling into the tanks are not uncommon, and around 50 kids die this way in the US every year. Just two days before the Lakewood child tragically died, a two-year-old boy from Virginia met a similar fate.
Northumberland County Sheriff Johnny Beauchamp told reporters that the child fell into the tank at the family’s home on September 6 and was pulled out by his father, who attempted CPR but could not revive his son.
Last December, an Indiana mother was furious when prosecutors refused to bring charges against a babysitter who was present when her three-year-old daughter died in the home’s septic tank. Ripley County Prosecutor Ric Hertel said he understood the mother’s heartache, but the tragic death was a “terrible accident.”
