Latest news with #septictank
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Daily Mail
Missing man, 29, heard calling for help from underground after suffering stomach-churning accident
A missing Texas man was miraculously found underground after he was heard shouting for help from inside a septic tank. The unidentified 29-year-old man was rescued by firefighters on August 8 after a homeowner in Edinburg - about three hours outside of San Antonio - reported his uncle was missing. The homeowner started to worry about his family member that morning after he failed to show up to his usual meeting place, a daycare, according to the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office. While performing the wellness check at 9.05am, a deputy soon 'heard a faint noise coming from the ground' in the backyard, the sheriff's office said. Soon enough, authorities discovered 'the man trapped underneath a tire in a septic tank' after falling 'through a small opening,' the Edinburg Fire Department said. The victim was stuck in the smelly tank for about 12 hours as he was last seen around 9pm the night before, authorities said. The fire department and medics quickly arrived at the scene to assist with the rescue as more than 15 first responders were seen guiding the man out of the confined space. A dramatic image showed the victim's head poking out of the ground as he wore large headphones while rescuers guided him out. The team of firefighters soon were able to break him free after cutting through the concrete and pulling him out of the tank safely. He was taken to a hospital and remains in stable condition. Daily Mail contacted the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office and Edinburg Fire Department for more information. Edinburg locals expressed their gratitude toward the officials who saved the man's life after the fire department posted about the rescue on Facebook. One wrote: 'Now that's professional. Awesome job everyone!' 'Thank you Edinburg Fire Department,' wrote another. While many were thankful the man made it out safely, some were curious how it happened in the first place. A commenter asked: 'May someone explain how this happened so we can avoid this happening to someone else?' Frank Zungia, a septic tank professional in Edinburg, explained to Daily Mail what he thinks might have caused the man to fall in. 'Equipment and lids should last about 10 years or so. That's why it's good to do preventive maintenance every three to five years, so you can check if they're still in good shape or starting to go bad,' Zungia said. 'In this case, it could have already been deteriorating underground. The gentleman may have stepped in the wrong spot, and it gave way. It finished deteriorating and collapsed, sending him all the way through.' Zungia heard about the frightening incident himself and tried to see if he could be of any help, he explained. 'I heard about it and actually called one of my buddies in the fire department to see if there was anything we could do to help them out,' the expert stated. 'But by then, they were already done — maybe they needed help replacing the lid or something, I guess, but no. Everything had already been taken care of.' When asked about tires within septic tanks, such as the one that trapped the man, Zungia was confused and suggested it might have been a pipe, specifically a 'burning line.' An investigation into the case is ongoing, according to the sheriff's office.
Arab News
31-07-2025
- General
- Arab News
‘Chamber of horrors' being exhumed at Ireland mass baby grave
TUAM: Only one stone wall remains of the old mother and baby home in this town, but it has cast a shadow over all of Ireland. A mass grave that could hold up to nearly 800 infants and young children — some of it in a defunct septic tank — is being excavated on the grounds of the former home run by the Bon Secours Sisters, an order of nuns. The burial site has forced Ireland and the Catholic Church — long central to its identity — to reckon with a legacy of having shunned unmarried mothers and separated them from their children left at the mercy of a cruel system. The grave was accidentally discovered by two boys a half century ago. But the true horror of the place was not known until a local historian began digging into the home's history. Catherine Corless revealed that the site was atop a septic tank and that 796 deceased infants were unaccounted for. Her findings caused a scandal when the international news media wrote about her work in 2014. When test excavations later confirmed an untold number of tiny skeletons were in the sewage pit, then-Prime Minister Enda Kenny called it a 'chamber of horrors.' Pope Francis later apologized for the church's 'crimes' that included forced separations of unwed mothers and children. The nuns apologized for not living up to their Christianity. A cold, cramped and deadly place The homes were not unique to Ireland and followed a Victorian-era practice of institutionalizing the poor, troubled and neglected children, and unmarried mothers. The Tuam home was cold, crowded and deadly. Mothers worked there for up to a year before being cast out — almost always without their children. Corless' report led to a government investigation that found 9,000 children, or 15 percent, died in mother and baby homes in the 20th century. The Tuam home — open from 1925 to 1961 — had the highest death rate. Corless said she was driven to expose the story 'the more I realized how those poor, unfortunate, vulnerable kids, through no fault of their own, had to go through this life.' Discovering deeply held secrets Corless' work brought together survivors of the homes and children who discovered their own mothers had given birth to long-lost relatives who died there. Annette McKay said there's still a level of denial about the abuse, rape and incest that led some women to the homes while fathers were not held accountable. 'They say things like the women were incarcerated and enslaved for being pregnant,' McKay said. 'Well, how did they get pregnant? Was it like an immaculate conception?' Her mother ended up in the home after being raped as a teenager by the caretaker of the industrial school where she had been sentenced for 'delinquency' after her mother died and father, a British soldier, abdicated responsibility. Her mother, Margaret 'Maggie' O'Connor, only revealed her secret when she was in her 70s, sobbing hysterically when the story finally came out. Six months after giving birth in Tuam in 1942, O'Connor was hanging laundry at another home where she had been transferred when a nun told her, 'the child of your sin is dead.' She never spoke of it again. Some 20 years later, a Sunday newspaper headline about a 'shock discovery' in Tuam caught McKay's attention. Among the names was her long-lost sister, Mary Margaret O'Connor, who died in 1943. Shame's long shadow Barbara Buckley was born in the Tuam home in 1957 and was 19 months old when she was adopted by a family in Cork. She was an adult when a cousin told her she'd been adopted and was later able to find her birth mother through an agency. Her mother came to visit from London for two days in 2000 and happened to be there on her 43rd birthday, though she didn't realize it. 'I found it very hard to understand, how did she not know it was my birthday?' Buckley said. 'Delving deep into the thoughts of the mothers, you know, they put it so far back. They weren't dealing with it anymore.' She said her mother had worked in the laundry and was sent away after a year, despite asking to stay longer. Her lasting memory of the place was only being able to see the sky above the high walls. At the end of their visit, her mother told her it had been lovely to meet her and her family, but said she'd never see her again. Buckley was devastated at the rejection and asked why. 'She said, 'I don't want anyone finding out about this,'' Buckley said. 'Going back to 1957 — and it was still a dark secret.' Luck of the Irish Pete Cochran considers himself one of the lucky ones. He was 16 months old when he got out of the home and was adopted by a family in the US, where he avoided the stigma that would have dogged him as a so-called illegitimate child in his homeland. During his visit to Tuam before the dig began, a man from town told him at a bar: 'I respect you now, but growing up, I used to spit on you because that's what I was taught.' Cochran hopes the dig turns up few remains. 'I hope they don't find 796 bodies,' he said. 'That all these children were adopted and had a good life like I did.' McKay has had the same hope for her sister. But even if they found a thimble full of her remains, she'd like to reunite her with her mom, who died in 2016. 'The headstone hasn't got my mother's name on it because I fought everybody to say I refuse to put my mom's name on until she can have her child with her,' McKay said.
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Yahoo
Caravan travellers called out over 'disgusting' find on side of remote Aussie road
Caravanners have been urged not to use the roadside as a personal dumping ground after faecal matter and other hygiene products including condoms were found dumped along the side of a busy road. Dave Dudley, who runs Tidy Up Townsville, an organisation which tackles the steady stream of dumping incidents around the city, told Yahoo News he was attending an unrelated incident last week when he spotted a "dark, unusual stain on the edge of Mill Road". "A septic tank had been dumped," he explained. "It might have been someone with a caravan or mobile home... or it could have been from one of those portaloos that people hire for parties or events. They've dumped the contents there, rather than [in] a proper pit." Dave believes the "disgusting" contents, which included condoms and sanitary pads, had been there for several days and said it had "settled into the ground". It's not the first time Dave has responded to a septic tank dumping, and he questioned why people would choose to do this when there are facilities readily available for proper disposal. "There's no positives in illegal dumping whatsoever, not for anyone, not for the environment. I can't fathom why people think it's all right to do this, it's just beyond me," he said. "There was s**t everywhere." Yahoo News has reached out to Queensland's Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation for comment on growing reports of the problem. Last month, the department launched an investigation after 200 tyres were illegally dumped in one of the state's national parks. Dave has been running Tidy Up Townsville for the last six years, and told Yahoo while the dumping has felt "constant" since he launched the group, it's become particularly bad in the last 12 months. With the sale of caravans steadily climbing over the last few years, there are concerns the rate of people hitting the road but still wanting to travel in luxury has resulted in more waste dumping incidents along the country's roads. 📣 Grey nomads called out for common caravanning trait on Aussie roads 😞 10-tonne find on Aussie beach highlights devastating issue ⚠️ Tourists travelling outback Australia issue grim warning Toby Read is an operations manager for 4WD hire group No Limits in Queensland, and has also been urging travellers to tidy up after themselves after recently noticing an uptick in the amount of rubbish left by campers and caravan travellers. "It's a shame that they don't just put it back in their caravan and take it home. Visitors come to enjoy a pristine environment, and then leave rubbish behind for some reason I don't understand," he told Yahoo News in October. Anecdotally, it's been a similar story over in Western Australia. Popular tourist towns in the south between Albany and Denmark have found the issue particularly bad over the holiday periods, with everything from toilet roll, toiletries and even a portable toilet dumped along the South Coast Highway last year. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
