A freak accident took the lives of three people from Florida who were hunting hogs in Texas after their dog fell into a cistern with toxic gas similar to that from a septic tank.
Bastrop County Sheriff Maurice Cook said that deputies responded to a call at about 1 a.m. Wednesday to a rural area on the outskirts of Austin. By they time they arrived, the three people appeared to be dead.
Investigators say that the three people were on a hunting trip when their dog fell into a cistern partially holding water with toxic fumes.
“There was no cover. This was just an open hole in the middle of a cornfield,” Cook said.
The three tried to save the dog, and a fourth person from Texas went back to their truck to seek emergency help. Cook said the deceased were overcome by hydrogen sulfide gas that had been produced by stagnant water and the remains of other animals who had died in the cistern.
The sheriff’s office identified the victims as 37-year-old Delvys Garcia, 26-year-old Denise Martinez, and 45-year-old Noel Vigil-Benitez.
The operation to remove their bodies took more than 18 hours because of the lack of stability in the walls of the cistern after officials drained it and removed the toxic gas.
The fourth person told authorities that the dog had escaped from their truck, and they tracked it down with the aid of a device on its collar.
Investigators found some of the victims’ clothing and boots on the ground above the cistern, which they said was an indication the hunters took them off before jumping in after the dog.
Cook also said that the owner of the property appeared to have died before the incident, but they were still investigating the ownership of the property.
“This is a tragic event that does not need to be repeated, so if anyone has any kind of trap like this, they need to go ahead and cover it in order to protect the public,” Cook added.
Here’s a local news report about the incident:
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