Kasaragod: On Wednesday, a two-year-old boy died after falling into a waste water tank in his backyard at Uppala in Mangalpady panchayat. A panchayat member did get down into the pitch-dark tank but could pull out only the child's body.

The boy has been identified as Abdul Rahman Sahadad, son of Aneesa and Abdul Samad, a cosmetic salesperson in Dubai.

According to an official at the Uppala Fire Station, Abdul Samad, who is home on vacation, had made one foot by one foot opening on the concrete slab covering the drainage tank as part of repair work. The child, walking over the tank, slipped through the vent. The incident happened around 1 pm.

Ibrahim P B (45), the panchayat member from the Peringadi ward, was at the panchayat office with other members when he got a call from a friend saying the boy had fallen into the drainage tank.

The members had then just elected Fathimath Rubeena (25) as the new president of Mangalpady panchayat.

As soon as Ibrahim got the call, he hopped onto the motorcycle of welfare standing committee member Mohammed Hussain A and raced to the Samad's house, 1km from the panchayat office.

"There I saw people standing around the vent and looking into the drainage tank," said Ibrahim. A ladder was placed into the tank but no one got down. "Perhaps they feared toxic gas inside the tank. People told me the boy fell only five minutes ago," he said.

Ibrahim did not waste time and entered the tank. "It was pitch dark and the water was up to my neck," he said.

He held on to the ladder and used his leg to search for the boy. "My foot felt like a sponge-like object," he said. Ibrahim pulled up the boy. He saw air bubbles forming around the boy's nose. With faint hope, Ibrahim raised the little Sahadad, and the people waiting took him away.

When Ibrahim came out of the tank and cleaned himself, he got the news. The boy did not make it to the hospital.