ALEXANDRIA, Ala. (WIAT) — On Wednesday, an 11-month-old baby died after falling into a septic tank in Alexandria, Alabama, Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade confirmed.
According to Wade, the infant was playing with other children outside a home in Alexandria while his father was helping someone work on a car nearby.
“He realized he hadn’t seen his child in a few moments,” Wade said.
The man found that the victim had fallen into the septic tank of the house through a plastic, manhole-type cover that was “unseated or wasn’t properly seated.”
“Whether the child stepped on it or crawled across it, it opened up and the child fell inside the septic tank,” Wade said.
When the father found the child, he retrieved the infant and conducted CPR until first responders arrived. The child was pronounced dead at the hospital.
“Anytime an 11-month-old dies, there’s going to be an investigation to it, but it appears to be just a very tragic story,” Wade said.
