Trench Collapse Kills Construction Worker in Washington D.C.

A construction worker has died after becoming trapped in a trench that collapsed in northeast Washington.

D.C. fire department spokesman Pete Piringer says fire officials were called to the 1200 block of Evarts Street on Thursday evening for a report of a trench collapse. Piringer says about a ton of heavy, wet clay fell on a worker, burying him.

About 75 rescuers and a dog tried to rescue the man for nearly three hours. Piringer says the worker suffered fatal “compression injuries.”

The incident happened in the yard of a three-story home that is under construction.