Two die trying to recover cell phone from toilet

XINXIANG CITY, China (KTRK) -- A cellphone dropped into a public toilet led to the deaths of two people and several injuries following a strange series of events.

According to the South China Morning Post, a woman visiting with her husband's family in Xinxiang City, China went to use the public open-pit toilet. She then accidently dropped her brand new $320 cellphone into the sewage-filled hole.

The woman called for her husband, who jumped into the pit to try and recover his wife's cellphone. The paper reports the man was quickly overwhelmed by the stench of human waste and lost consciousness.

The woman's mother-in-law then jumped into the toilet to try and save her son. She quickly lost consciousness.

The woman who originally dropped the cellphone then jumped in to try to save both her husband and mother-in-law. She also passed out from the fumes.

The woman's father-in-law then called for help before he too jumped into the pit and passed out in the knee-deep sewage.

The paper reports villagers then finally came to the rescue. One villager immediately passed out from the stench. Other villagers used a rope and took turns going into the pit, pulling a total of six people out.

The paper reports the husband and mother-in-law, who were the first two to go down into the toilet, died at the hospital from suffocation. The other victims are recovering in an intensive care unit.

Villagers estimate the victims were in the pit for no more than five minutes.