A 45-year-old prison officer suffocated to death while working on an underground water connection in Torit on Tuesday.
The deceased, identified as Lt Dominic Abraham, was reportedly using a generator underground, which suddenly went off, cutting his oxygen supply.
A family member said a construction company had hired Abraham, who was an engineer, for the private assignment.
Juma Babiker told Radio Tamazuj that the incident happened at around 8am and the body was retrieved from the underground tank at around 11am.
“He was with the generator inside the underground tank with his assistant seated nearby when the generator went off and he suffocated,” he explained.
South Sudan is going through an economic crisis that has seen civil servants and soldiers go without pay for almost a year, prompting most of them to engage in alternative incoming generating activities.
Eastern Equatoria State Director Maj Gen Ramadan Bullen confirmed the incident, reaffirming that the officer had died while on a personal mission.
He, however, said the prisons department would bury the late warder as investigation continue.
“We are still waiting for the doctor’s opinion on the cause of the death, but you know he died while on his personal work. If he was on a government duty, we would have taken full responsibility,” he stated.
Eastern Equatoria State Civil Society Network chairman Onen Charles Lokwaru sent his condolences to the bereaved family.
He urged the government to thoroughly investigate the matter and hold the responsible construction company accountable.