ALLIANCE, Neb. (AP) – Federal regulators are investigating a trench collapse that killed a 61-year-old plumber in western Nebraska and injured another man.
Alliance Police say Jimmy Spencer of Minatare died Monday after being buried in an eight-foot-deep trench while installing sewer lines for a home.
It took several minutes for rescuers to remove enough dirt to check Spencer’s vital signs. He died at the scene. Another construction worker was injured and treated at the hospital.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the incident. The company, Clau-Chin Construction, doesn’t have any history of OSHA violations.
OSHA rules require any trench deeper than five feet to be reinforced to prevent collapse.