Police officer saves woman from drowning in a septic tank

On October 23 around 8:12 PM KST, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency received a call from a public bathing house in Gangnam, requesting for the rescue of a 23-year-old Ms. Kim drowning in a septic tank.

For those who do not know what a septic tank is, a video demonstration has been added below. Now imagine getting stuck in that (yuck!).

Police officer Kim Jin Sung went with three fellow officers to the location, where they found Ms. Kim in the basement of the public bathing house, submerged in the sewage with only her hand barely sticking out. Ms. Kim's mother and public bathing house owner Ms. Bae was reportedly panicking at the scene, thinking that her daughter was at death's toilet. Apparently, none of the employees dared to try and help.

Without any hesitation, officer Kim ran to the tank, used one hand to hold on to an iron pipe at the entrance and the other to reach in and grab Ms. Kim. Ms. Kim took hold, but accidentally pulled the officer down into the tank with her. Luckily, Officer Kim's colleagues grabbed hold of his hand, and while Officer Kim continued to hold on to Ms. Kim, the two were eventually, safely pulled out.

It has been reported that neither Officer Kim nor Ms. Kim have any major injuries. As to how the situation occurred in the first place, apparently Ms. Bae and Ms. Kim had been arguing about money issues when Ms. Bae said to her daughter, "I threw out your wallet with money into the septic tank so whether you want to take it out or not do whatever you want!" Much to Ms. Bae's surprise, Ms. Kim chose to dive into the murky waters to retrieve her money, resulting in this very, very unfortunate incident.

When asked about his own condition, Officer Kim reportedly said, "After completing the request [for rescue], I've finally started feeling the shock of the growing smell of excrement." He continued, "Because the co-workers with whom I came held onto my hand, I was able to complete the request. I threw away the uniform, shoes, and underclothes I wore last night."

Understandable.