Seven die in toilet accident

Seven die in toilet accident

14/08/2006 14:05 - (SA)

Tashkent - Seven people were killed in Uzbekistan when an effort to excavate a toilet went badly wrong, the press-uz.info internet site said on Monday.

The accident in the southern rural province of Surkhondaryo occurred when a father and son were digging an overflow pit for an existing outdoor lavatory, the site said, citing the province's prosecutor.

As they were digging the seven-metre pit, the sides of the original toilet collapsed and its contents engulfed the two men.

Five neighbours then rushed to the men's aid, lowering themselves into the pit, but succumbed to poisoning caused by accumulated gas, the site said.