Malam Bala, sixty, and his son, Sunusi Bala, 35, died in a well at Sabon Garin Bauchi, in Kano State’s Wudil Local Government Area, while draining water from the well.

Saminu Abdullahi, the State Fire Service’s Public Relations Officer, confirmed the incident in a statement on Wednesday.

The incident occurred on Tuesday morning, according to the statement.

“We received an emergency call from Wudil Fire station at about 11:30 a.m. from one Isma’ila Idris that two men were trapped inside a well,” Abdullahi said. At approximately 11:33 a.m., we dispatched our rescue team to the scene.

“A father and son were summoned to drain a well.” They had drained it successfully. However, when the son returned to the well to clear it, he became trapped and suffocated.

“His father chased him down to save him, but he became trapped and suffocated due to a lack of oxygen inside the well.”

According to the statement, the victims were brought out of the well unconscious and later confirmed dead.

It went on to say that their bodies were turned over to Inspector Felix Gowok of the Wudil Model Police Station.

He attributed the incident to a lack of oxygen.