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Toxic gas blamed for septic tank deaths

cGabriel Rodríguez/LA PRENSA

angry:Xtra Supermarket employees and relatives of the two workers who died after falling into the store’s septic tank rejected the management’s version of events and demanded an investigation. 1090032

Toxic gas poisoning was responsible for the deaths of the two Xtra Supermarket employees who fell into a septic tank at the La Doña shopping center in 24 de Diciembre yesterday, according to coroner’s reports.

The two supermarket employees, Benigno Mojica, 38, and Edgar Pittí, 22, inhaled the noxious fumes after slipping into the septic tank on Sunday afternoon. Fellow Xtra workers, Expedito Sanjur and Juan Oro, who were also exposed to the escaping gases remained hospitalized in critical condition. Authorities did not specify the kind of gas it was.

Medical staff at Hospital Santo Tomás reported that Gerardo Victoria, another Xtra worker and would-be rescuer, was being kept alive by a respirator after suffering severe head and chest trauma.

According to accident witness and Xtra deli worker Candelario Montezuma, he and Pittí were taking their lunch break when they heard Sanjur calling for help from the septic tank, where Mojica had fallen in.

In an attempt to extricate Mojica, Pittí and Sanjur succumbed to the gases emanating from the tank. Montezuma then ran to find help, returning with Juan Oro.

Four hours later, rescue crews from the Cuerpo de Bomberos de Panamá and the Policía Nacional succeeded in retrieving the bodies of Mojica and Pittí, which had sunk to the bottom of the tank.

Xtra Supermarket representatives released a report late Sunday night, claiming that store supervisor Sanjur had ordered Mojica to accompany him to the septic tank’s control room, where an alleged electrical short had caused the tank’s air pump to shut down.

According to the report, the first step in restarting the air pump required changing its filters, a process that necessitated opening the septic tank’s lid and letting the gases escape for 24 hours before entering the reservoir.

“We don’t know why Mr. Mojica descended immediately into the area where the filters are,” said the Xtra report. “Because that, unfortunately, led Mojica to fall unconscious and die.”

Several Xtra Supermarket employees who differed with the order of events described in the official report, blocking the entrance to the store in protest. Some of those workers told reporters that the tragedy was a consequence of the management’s policy of assigning employees with tasks outside of their general duties, such as cleaning the septic tank.

That information was corroborated by Judith Mojica, Benigno Mojica’s sister, and Carlos Morales, Edgar Pitti’s brother, who have called for an investigation into the accident. Relatives of the victims have also asked the Ministerio de Trabajo to look into the matter.