Four students died in a cesspit at a boarding house in Zaykone Village, Shwe Pantaw, Magway region on October 17 after they tried to pick up a fallen phone handset inside the cesspit, according to locals and office of head of Magway district police force.

The cesspit is four feet wide and 12 feet deep.

A mobile phone owned by a tutor guide accidentally fell to the cesspit and Than Toe Aung, a ninth grade student, went down into the pit in an attempt to salvage it. Htike Min Shein, an eighth grade student, went after him as the first one didn’t come back up.

Two tenth grade students, Zeya Min Chit and Hein Htet San, followed them using a bamboo ladder. All four of them died from asphyxiation in the sewage pit.

Dr Kyaw Kyaw Hlaing from station hospital said they were choked to death as there was no oxygen in the pit and with plenty of methane gas.

“When I saw the news and pictures of the dead students on Facebook, I asked locals about it. We heard about those kinds of deaths frequently and it is better to educate students about it widely,” said a boarding house owner and a retired education officer from Neatmauk.

The police will continue to investigate the case.