Contractor killed in trench collapse

By Christian Boone and Marcus K. Garner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Authorities have identified the victim of Thursday's trench collapse in southwest Atlanta.

Omar Ismael, 23, likely perished within minutes of the cave in, according to the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office.

Rescue workers pulled Ismael's body from beneath five feet of dirt piled in the collapsed  sewer trench at a Habitat for Humanity home on 7th Street off Cleveland Avenue.

Ismael, a plumber, was buried for almost four hours.

"With the rain that we had, it was a classic collapse," said Dave Rhodes, a battalion chief with Atlanta Fire and Rescue.. "Working in these conditions there's a danger of a spoil pile," when dirt removed from digging collapses back into the hole being dug.

He said the dirt weighed about 3,000 pounds per cubic yard "and we removed about 32 cubic yards of dirt."

Ismael fell into the nine-foot trench around 4 p.m., said Atlanta Fire and Rescue spokesman Bill May. Another unidentified man also fell into the gulch but was pulled out before rescue workers arrived at the scene. He was unharmed.

Jasmine Ford, a neighbor, was at home when the collapse happened.

"One of his co-workers came over and asked for a shovel," Ford said. "He was frantic."

She said a crew of four to seven contractors were working on the trench before the collapse.

"Guys were trying to dig him out by hand," said another neighbor, Everett Cooper.

Rhodes said investigators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were on scene to determine whether the work being done met safety regulations.

"There was no shoring," Rhodes said, referring to either wooden planks or steel plates used to hold back the earth while digging trenches.