Japan: Four workers dead after falling into manhole – DW – 08/03/2025
Four workers have died in Japan after falling into a manhole while inspecting sewage pipes, authorities said on Sunday.
The workers, all in their fifties, were checking pipes in the city of Gyoda on Saturday. When one fell down the manhole for an unknown reason, three others tried to save him, eventually falling in themselves, the local fire department told the AFP new agency.
The workers were then retrieved and taken to a hospital where they were pronounced dead, local media reported.
The four deceased were among at least seven workers present at the site as part of a nation-wide survey of sewage pipes. They had been ordered to clean the pipes if required.
Rescuers detected hydrogen sulfide, a gas which is toxic in high concentrations, coming out of the manhole, the fire department said.
Local law enforcement also said the gas had been detected, reported, adding that they suspected the workers may have inhaled the gas.
The city is yet to confirm this.
"Detailed circumstances leading up to the accident are still unknown, so it's too early for us to say anything about our responsibility," a Gyoda city official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Int'l Business Times
18 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
Chad Court Jails Ex-PM, Opposition Leader For 20 Years
A court in Chad jailed former prime minister and opposition leader Succes Masra for 20 years Saturday, convicting him of hate speech, xenophobia and having incited a massacre. The court in N'Djamena jailed Masra, one of President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno's fiercest critics, for his role in inciting inter-communal violence in which 42 people were killed on May 14. Most of the massacre victims were women and children in Mandakao, southwestern Chad, according to the court. On Friday, the state prosecutor had called for a 25-year sentence. "Our client has just been the object of a humiliation," lead defence lawyer Francis Kadjilembaye told AFP. "He has just been convicted on the basis of an empty dossier, on the basis of assumptions and in the absence of evidence," he added. What we had witnessed, he said, was the weaponisation of the courts. Activists with his Transformers Party said they would put out a "special message" later Saturday. Masra was arrested on May 16, two days after the violence, and charged with "inciting hatred, revolt, forming and complicity with armed gangs, complicity in murder, arson and desecration of graves". He stood trial with nearly 70 other men accused of taking part in the killings. Originally from Chad's south, Masra comes from the Ngambaye ethnic group and enjoys wide popularity among the predominantly Christian and animist populations of the south. Those groups feel marginalised by the largely Muslim-dominated regime in the capital N'Djamena. During the trial, Masra's lawyers argued that no concrete evidence against him had been presented to the court. He went on hunger strike in jail for nearly a month in June, his lawyers said at the time. Like other opposition leaders, Masra had left Chad after a bloody crackdown on his followers in 2022, only returning under an amnesty agreed in 2024. Trained as an economist in France and Cameroon, Masra had been a fierce opponent of the ruling authorities before they named him prime minister five months ahead of the presidential election. He served as premier from January to May last year after signing a reconciliation deal with Deby. Masra faced off against Deby in the 2024 presidential elections, winning 18.5 percent against Deby's 61.3 percent, but claimed victory. Of the May 14 killings, one local source said they were thought to have sprung from a dispute between ethnic Fulani nomadic herders and local Ngambaye farmers over the demarcation of grazing and farming areas. Conflicts between pastoralists and sedentary farmers are estimated by the International Crisis Group to have caused more than 1,000 deaths and 2,000 injuries in Chad between 2021 and 2024.
Int'l Business Times
3 days ago
- Int'l Business Times
Israeli Airline's Paris Offices Daubed With Red Paint, Slogans
Red paint and slogans were daubed at the entry to the offices of national Israeli airline El Al in Paris, with Israel Thursday urging French authorities to take action over the "barbaric act". Anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian slogans and inscriptions, including "Free Palestine" and "El Al Genocide Airline", were written on the entrance which, along with the pavement, was also daubed with red paint overnight Wednesday to Thursday. "I condemn the barbaric and violent act against El Al and expect the law enforcement authorities in France to locate the criminals and take strong action against them," Israel's Transport Minister Miri Regev wrote on X. The act was the result of announcements by President Emmanuel Macron that "make gifts to" Palestinian militant group Hamas, she added -- an apparent reference to his announcement last month that France plans to recognise a Palestinian state. Israel's ambassador to France Joshua Zarka, visiting the scene, described the vandalism as an "act of terrorism" that aims to "terrorise El Al employees, terrorise Israeli citizens, scare them and try to make them feel that they are not welcome." According to El Al, quoted by Israeli TV channel N12, "the incident occurred while the building was empty and there was no danger to the company's employees. "El Al proudly displays the Israeli flag on the tail of its aircraft and condemns all forms of violence, particularly those based on anti-Semitism," the national airline added. French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot condemned the "acts of vandalism" on X, saying that "acts of hatred and antisemitism have no place" in France. Authorities have opened an investigation into acts of property damage committed on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality or religion, Paris's public prosecutor's office told AFP. In early June, several Jewish sites in Paris were sprayed with green paint. Three Serbs were charged and placed under arrest and are suspected by investigators of having acted to serve the interests of a foreign power, possibly Russia. The October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel that sparked the war between Israel and Hamas resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, the majority of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Out of 251 hostages seized during Hamas's attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. The Israeli offensive has killed at least 61,258 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Gaza health ministry which are considered reliable by the United Nations. Paris's public prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation into the incident AFP
Int'l Business Times
3 days ago
- Int'l Business Times
UK Pensioner, Student Arrested For Backing Palestine Action
Pensioner Marji Mansfield never imagined she would end up suspected of terrorism for protesting against the banning of a pro-Palestinian group. But the British grandmother was arrested on July 5 for joining a demonstration in support of Palestine Action just days after it was added to the UK government's list of proscribed organisations. "It's a terrible shock to be accused of potentially being a terrorist," said Mansfield, 68, who described herself as a "proud grandmother" of seven. She "was never politically interested," the former banking consultant from the southern town of Chichester told AFP. "I just worked hard, raised my family, lived an ordinary life." In early July, the UK government banned Palestine Action under the UK's Terrorism Act, after activists broke into an air force base in England and damaged two aircraft. Since then, the campaign group Defend Our Juries has organised protests around the country to challenge the ban, described as "disproportionate" by the United Nations rights chief. More than 200 people have been arrested, according to Tim Crosland, a member of Defend Our Juries. They risk prison sentences of up to 14 years. British police on Thursday said they had charged two men and a woman over the July 5 protest, adding that they were sending files on the 26 other people arrested that day to prosecutors. A new demonstration in support of the group, which was founded in 2020, is planned on Saturday in London. Organisers expect at least 500 people to turn up, and police have warned all demonstrators could face arrest. People "don't know what the nature of this group is," interior minister Yvette Cooper has said, claiming that "this is not a non-violent group". But Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori has launched a court bid to overturn the ban and a hearing is set for November. Some 52 scholars, including well-known authors Tariq Ali and Naomi Klein, backed the bid in an open letter published in Thursday's Guardian, calling the ban an attack on "fundamental freedoms of expression, association, assembly and protest." Mansfield has long supported the Palestinian people, but the start of the current war, sparked by Hamas's attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, galvanised her into action. "When it started happening again ... it was the most horrible feeling, that children's homes were being blown up, that their schools were being destroyed," she said. Hamas's October 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's subsequent campaign to eradicate the Palestinian militant group in Gaza has killed more than 60,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which are deemed reliable by the United Nations. For Mansfield, the Palestine Action ban was the final straw, fuelling her feelings that the government was silencing her political views. The night before attending the July demonstration, Mansfield said she was "terrified". But she did not change her mind. Images on British media showed her being moved by several police officers after she refused to get up from the pavement. An 83-year-old woman was by her side. Mansfield spent 12 hours in custody, and is now banned from parts of London, meaning she cannot visit some museums with her grandchildren as she would like to do. "It was just ordinary people," said Mansfield. "We came from all backgrounds ... we're not terrorists." Alice Clark, a 49-year-old doctor, also does not regret attending the protest where she was arrested in London on July 19. "Nobody wants to be arrested. I just feel that there's a responsibility," said Clark, who also accused the government of undermining "our civil liberties". Cooper said the ban on Palestine Action was "based on detailed security assessments and security advice". The ban says the group's "methods have become more aggressive" by encouraging members to carry out attacks which have already caused millions of pounds in damage. But Clark, a former volunteer for medical charity Doctors Without Borders, said she felt "growing disgust and horror" at the images of starving children in Gaza. The 12 hours in custody after her arrest were a shock. If convicted, she risks losing her licence to practice medicine. "There were points where I was close to tears. But I think just remembering why I was doing it kind of helped me keep calm," said Clark. History student Zahra Ali, 18, was also arrested on July 19, before being released under supervision. None of the three women has been charged. She is also appalled by the scenes from Gaza. "The starvation in Gaza, it's disgusting. And our government isn't doing anything about that," she told AFP. Imagining herself in prison at 18 is "a big thing," but "if people who are in their 80s can do it, then I can do it," Ali said. She also does not describe herself as an activist, but as "a normal person ... who decided that what our government is doing is wrong". UK protesters hold up signs reading 'I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action' AFP A protester using a walking stick is escorted away by police officers at a London demonstration in support of Palestine Action AFP Israel has levelled vast portions of Gaza in its campaign against Hamas AFP
