HARARE — Two men and a woman were pulled from a muddy sewer pond in Budiriro 3 early Monday, with residents blaming the City of Harare’s negligence for the tragedy after an excavation left an unfenced pit filled with sewer sludge for months.

Alarm was raised at around 8PM on Sunday after a man reported that his friend, Saul Karakadzai, 19, had fallen into the pit as the two walked home from local shops.

Residents had been forced to use a shortcut passing near the pond after a road in the area was temporarily closed when the city resumed work on Saturday.

The city had first dug up the sewer line for repairs in February but had failed to close or fence off the excavation, locals said. With no lighting or visible barrier, people had taken to jumping across the three-meter-deep and two meters-wide pit filled with water, mud, and raw sewage.

The fire brigade and police attended the scene before calling in divers. To their shock, the first body recovered was that of a woman. A second dive yielded another man. Karakadzai’s body was found only on the third attempt. All three are believed to have died within hours of each other.

A witness described the desperate and ultimately failed attempt to save Karakadzai.

“We could not get into the trench because it was full of thick sewer sludge. He was also helpless and unable to hold onto a tree branch that we tried to use to rescue him,” she said.

Diver Victor Kazembe, who has been hailed as a hero, recovered all three bodies, with the last pulled out at around 3AM on Monday.

“What I did, wading into a mud pool, is not recommended because you can’t even swim in that,” he said.

“What I did is a sacrifice so that the spirit of these people may rest in peace.”

The same witness called on the local authority to ensure maintenance crews arrive with sufficient equipment to complete repairs in a single day and seal excavations when work is done.

“People do not [have to] fall victim to these pits,” she said.

Harare mayor Jacob Mafume ordered an immediate probe into the deaths, saying he wanted answers “within hours.”