A worker was killed Friday after a trench collapsed in a DeKalb County subdivision that’s under construction, authorities said.
First responders spent most of the day working to recover the man’s body after he fell into the trench about noon.
The man, who has not been identified, was standing outside the hole as workers used a backhoe to dig a 16-foot trench when the ground beneath him collapsed and he fell in, DeKalb fire Capt. Dion Bentley said.
“The ground below him caved in and he fell into the hole,” Bentley said. “About 10 feet of dirt on either side of the hole fell on top of the victim and covered him up.”
Authorities said two other workers tried to rescue the man after the collapse but were unable to get to him in time.
Investigators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are conducting an investigation into the incident, which occurred in a new subdivision on Winmire Lane near Panola Road in southeastern DeKalb.
Firefighters at the scene said the workers were not using a trench box, a metal structure placed inside a trench to prevent cave-ins during construction.
The man’s body was recovered from the trench about 6 p.m. and turned over to the the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office, authorities said.
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