Body found in sewage tank at Wynnum on Brisbane’s bayside

Police believe they know the identity of a man whose body was found in a sewage holding tank on Brisbane’s bayside.

POLICE believe they know the identity of a man whose body was found in a sewage holding tank on Brisbane’s bayside.

Divers in protective gear had the confronting task of extracting the body after it was found by workers during a maintenance inspection at Wynnum on Wednesday.

The identity of the man is unknown, but police believe the body was only placed in the tank in recent days or weeks.

Police were called to the Wynnum Queensland Urban Utilities facility at 12.10pm. Picture: AAP/image David Clark

Retrieving the body was a delicate operation, waste had to pumped out of the tank to allow divers access.

Wrapped in an orange body bag, the man was hoisted from the tank just after 6pm with the assistance of police divers and maintenance workers.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, as well as waste management workers were on the scene at Granada St.

Police Inspector Owen Elloy said maintenance workers found the body in a routine sewerage check.

Picture: AAP/image David Clark

“A number of maintenance workers attended the scene in order to check on the pumping station and located the man’s body late this morning,” he said.

Officers have confirmed the death is suspicious and will maintain a crime scene at the site overnight and into the morning.

A body has been located down a sewerage drain near the Wynnum foreshore. Picture: AAP/image David Clark

Police think they’ve established who the man is but efforts to formally identify him are continuing.

Detectives have been checking missing persons reports as part of the investigation.

Police were called to the Wynnum Queensland Urban Utilities facility at 12.10pm. Picture: David Clark

Body found in drain on Brisbane’s bayside. Picture: David Clark

Brenda Campbell, a Wynnum resident since 2000, said she believed this was the first case of its kind to occur in her neighbourhood.

“It’s a very quiet area and this is a total surprise,” she said.

“We’ve been here for nearly 20 years and nothing has ever happened here before, so I hope it’s not a sign of things to come.”

Detectives have been questioning ­residents in the area and will continue to ­investigate.