Rescue workers climb down into a water pipeline to salvage the bodies of two workers who might have drowned while repairing the pipeline

Two construction workers might have been drowned in a Ho Chi Minh City water pipeline on Friday while they were repairing it.

Co-workers found the bodies of Nguyen Tri Nguyen, 27, and Nguyen Tan Dat, 29, stuck inside a pipe one meter in diameter.

Rescue workers arrived at the site on Huynh Tan Phat Street in District 7 shortly thereafter, Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper reported.

Nguyen and Dat were rushed to hospital but it was too late to revive them.

Both were working for the Public Traffic Construction Company under Saigon Water Corporation (Sawaco) at the time.

Their bodies are being kept at the District 7 Hospital and district police are investigating the cause of their deaths.

The circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear.

According to witnesses, the workers might have been drowned when their co-workers pumped water through the pipe from one kilometer away.

Local residents said workers on the pipeline have been living in makeshift accommodations on the sidewalk near Nha Be Martyr Cemetery for almost a year as the pipe keeps breaking.

Source: Nguoi Lao Dong