The 2 victims (one in his mid-20s and the other in his 40s) were installing a sewer pipe for new houses in a 4.5-meter deep trench when it collapsed trapping them into the rubble.
Some workers managed to pass a PVC pipe to one of them before the emergency crews arrived. He then achieved to establish connection and speak with the rescue crews and with his family.
The rescue teams tried to reach the trapped men by excavating in the debris. The excavation was carried out by hand as they had to be extremely careful due to the instability of the ground. "Due to the soil conditions where the workers are trapped, the excavation had to be conducted by hand using small shovels and buckets to remove the soil from around the workers. Since the ground is both unstable and compacted around the trapped workers, extreme caution to cause no further harm to those trapped, nor the emergency response personnel on scene was paramount to the operation," the WSFR (Windsor Severance Fire Rescue) stated.
At least 50 people tried to rescue the trapped men. Unfortunately, when the crew managed to reach the victims, they had already passed away due to their injuries. Kris Kazian, WSFR chief, stated: "We were unable to get to him in time."
According to recent updates, an investigation by federal, state and local authorities is being carried out to find out the causes of the failure. "I can't confirm how the accident happened other than they were working in a trench and the trench gave way and the dirt from one of the side walls fell in and buried two members in the trench," Kazian stated.
