Pig farmer suddenly faints inside feed pit

Zhang Wu sighed as he recounted to reporters that if they could have been pulled out even a little earlier, there might still have been hope. Photo by reporter Yu Zhuo

    A pig farmer accidentally fainted inside a feed pit. One person went to help and became trapped, then another person went to help and also became trapped. When 21-year-old Zhang Wu learned of this, he immediately jumped into the pit to rescue them. Two of them unfortunately died, and one remains unconscious.

    Pig farmer faints inside feed pit

    Seven days have passed since the incident, but Lougetai Village on Fengchan Road in the north of the city is still shrouded in grief.

    "At around 10 a.m. on September 30, villager and pig farmer Master Zhang accidentally fainted inside the feed pit where pig feed is stored," villagers said.

    The feed pit at pig farmer Master Zhang's home is nearly two meters deep underground. It stores a large amount of pig feed, which is fermented for the pigs to eat. Normally the feed is pumped out, but on the day of the incident the pump broke, so Master Zhang had to climb down into the feed pit by ladder and carry the feed out.

    "He had gone down several times before without any problem. This time he went down and something happened," Master Zhang's family said. "Some distillers' grains had been put in the feed pit, and they fermented quite strongly, giving off a particularly pungent smell. Master Zhang fainted inside as soon as he went down."

    Two people who went to rescue him also became trapped

    The sudden situation caught the family off guard, and they hurried outside and shouted for help.

    "Master Wei from the same village heard the shouts and hurried over to help, climbing down into the pit to rescue him. But less than a minute after he went in, he fainted," villagers said. "Right after that, another pig farmer nearby, Master Han, also came to help, and he too fainted as soon as he climbed down into the feed pit."

    All three had fainted inside the feed pit, and no one dared go down blindly to rescue them anymore. It was not until 20 minutes later that 21-year-old Zhang Wu from the same village and his family arrived at the scene.

    "We quickly found a thicker nylon rope and tied it around Zhang Wu. If anything else went wrong, the people above could still pull Zhang Wu up," said a villager who took part in the rescue.

    "I took a deep breath, held my breath, and went down into the pit to pull all three of them up one after another," Zhang Wu said yesterday. "In that pit, the fumes were so choking you could not open your eyes, let alone breathe."

    "At the time I did not think much about it. We are all from the same village. I am young and in fairly good health, so going down into the pit to rescue them was easier for me than for others," Zhang Wu said.

    The young rescuer's condition improved somewhat after receiving oxygen

    After finishing the rescue, Zhang Wu also inhaled a large amount of toxic gas from the pit. His face was completely pale, and he was eventually sent to the village clinic, where he only improved after receiving oxygen for two days.

    But to everyone's regret, although the three rescued people were promptly sent to Chang'an Hospital for emergency treatment, Master Zhang and Master Wei died despite treatment. Master Han is still in a coma.

    "All three are middle-aged men with elderly parents above and young children below, the pillars of their families. This incident brought down three families at once," the villagers said with deep regret.

    "We truly feel especially guilty toward the two families who came over to help with the rescue. We really do not know how to compensate them," pig farmer Master Zhang's family said yesterday.

    It is understood that pig feed pits are filled with a large amount of biogas, including the toxic gas hydrogen sulfide, which has neurotoxic effects. At low concentrations, exposure to biogas causes only local irritation of the respiratory tract and eyes; at high concentrations, its systemic effects are more obvious, manifesting as central nervous system symptoms and asphyxiation symptoms, and it may also be accompanied by damage to multiple organs including the heart. The tissues most sensitive to its toxic effects are the brain and the areas of mucous membrane contact.

    Our reporter Xie Tao