Two Workers Found Dead After Trench Collapse in Hoover
Two workers were found dead Tuesday evening after a trench collapsed on them in a Hoover neighborhood. The discovery came after an hours-long rescue and recovery effort.
Authorities with the Hoover Fire Department say they initially received a call just after 3 p.m. alerting them that two workers were trapped beneath a fallen trench.
“We did not know their exact location in the trench,” says Scott West, captain with the Hoover Fire Department. “We had to dig and work to find them.”
He says the trench, which was being used to install a drainage system, was about 8-feet deep, 4-feet wide and approximately 50-feet long. Close to 30 rescue workers, from both the Hoover Fire Department and Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service, helped search for the men.
Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato: This is an extensive operation. Rescuing the men could take three to six hours. The collapsed trench is 8 feet deep. Fire & Rescue crews from Birmingham will assist. https://t.co/vai85XMzKB
— WBHM 90.3 FM (@WBHM) July 23, 2019
“We worked for over two hours digging – hand digging with shovels,” West says. “Once we found them and were able to assess them, we realized that they were deceased.”
The workers’ identities have not been released. The Jefferson County Coroner’s office will determine the exact cause of death.
Authorities say the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been contacted and there will be an investigation into what caused the trench to collapse. The two men worked for the Birmingham-based company Water Drainage Solutions, Inc. Officials there did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Why haven’t Kansas and Alabama — among other holdouts — expanded access to Medicaid?
Only 10 states have not joined the federal program that expands Medicaid to people who are still in the "coverage gap" for health care
Once praised, settlement to help sickened BP oil spill workers leaves most with nearly nothing
Thousands of ordinary people who helped clean up after the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico say they got sick. A court settlement was supposed to help compensate them, but it hasn’t turned out as expected.
Q&A: How harm reduction can help mitigate the opioid crisis
Maia Szalavitz discusses harm reduction's effectiveness against drug addiction, how punitive policies can hurt people who need pain medication and more.
The Gulf States Newsroom is hiring a Community Engagement Producer
The Gulf States Newsroom is seeking a curious, creative and collaborative professional to work with our regional team to build up engaged journalism efforts.
Gambling bills face uncertain future in the Alabama legislature
This year looked to be different for lottery and gambling legislation, which has fallen short for years in the Alabama legislature. But this week, with only a handful of meeting days left, competing House and Senate proposals were sent to a conference committee to work out differences.
Alabama’s racial, ethnic health disparities are ‘more severe’ than other states, report says
Data from the Commonwealth Fund show that the quality of care people receive and their health outcomes worsened because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
