CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — "He's stuck under a trench that collapsed? Trench is gonna be 10 feet deep, inside of a manhole.”
Those were the words of a police rescue crew as they attempted to save a person’s life in a deadly trench accident near Buccaneer Stadium earlier Monday
One person is dead as emergency crews are still on the scene.
Crews have been working since this morning trying to get the body out.
Officials say they are taking their time trying to be as careful as possible so they keep their crews safe
KRIS 6 spoke with Corpus Christi Fire Chief Robert Rocha, who confirmed one person is dead.
Rocha said there are two firefighters in the recovery he said they are moving dirt bucket by bucket they have to construct a box around the body and in order to be able to get it out of the home.
Rocha said C Hall is not as stable as they would like it to be so that is why it is taking so long. They are taking their time remaining cautious working with ropes that are attached to the top of the ladder truck to anchor these firefighters.
We know that the person who died in this accident is a young m, but we do not know an approximate age or anything else about him.
OSHA says that they are aware of the situation and are looking into it.
According to OSHA, cave-ins pose the greatest risk and are more likely to be deadly in a construction project.
To prevent a collapse, OSHA requires employers to protect workers by sloping and benching the sides of the excavation, supporting the sides of the excavation or placing a shield between the side of the excavation and the work area.
The next big item is pertaining to OSHA, which stands for Occupational Safety and Health Administration. They are a regulatory agency when it comes to worksites such as this. And they will be key in what happens next. We spoke with one attorney about what that might be.
“Sometimes OSHA will share their investigation and sometimes they won't it really depends on them,” local attorney Greg Herrman said. “OSHA will do a thorough job in their investigation. They will shut down the worksite. They’ll interview everyone. They will do an inspection. The first thing that the company needs to do is be completely transparent with OSHA and tell OSHA everything and share everything with them. The family needs to get their own investigator, they need to take pictures of the scene and they need to make their own determination of what exactly happened.
OSHA tells KRIS they are aware of the situation and are looking into it.
The last time there was a trench collapse in our area was in December 2019.
A trench collapsed at a construction site for a new apartment complex in Gregory.
36-year-old Reynaldo Alaniz Rosalez died and two others were injured.
