ST. PAUL, Minn. — Two workers were killed Friday afternoon when a construction trench collapsed in St. Paul. Hours after the fatal incident, crews are still working into the night to recover one of the bodies.
The St. Paul Fire Department says the collapse happened around 3 p.m. in a construction zone on the 700 block of Mount Curve Boulevard, near the Mississippi River in the Highland Park neighborhood.
While fire crews responded quickly to the scene, it was too late to secure the trench and save the workers who’d been buried underground.
“We feel horrible for the victims when anything like this happens,” said Assistant Fire Chief Matt Simpson. “We train for this every single day … Unfortunately, time was not on our side to make that difference today.”
Lahens St. Fleur watched as dozens of first-responders flooded the street near his home. He and others were heartbroken for the workers and their families.
“I’m just very, very sad that this happened,” he said. “My heart really goes out to those people.”
Fire officials say crews will work through the night until the second body has been recovered. The names of the two workers have yet to be released.
Source: CBS