SHORELINE, Wash. — Two people are dead after a trench collapsed on top of them in Shoreline, according to the Shoreline Fire Department (SFD).
Both of the men who died were construction workers with a company contracted by homeowners to work on their sewer line.
The trench collapse was reported around 3 p.m. on Monday at the residential construction site in the Highland Terrace neighborhood. A man in his 30s and a man in his 60s were killed when a topside dirt pile caved in on workers, according to SFD.
At least one other worker was trying to rescue the men when crews arrived on scene, according to SFD Public Information Officer Michelle Pidduck. SFD used rescue rigs to aid in the process, but found neither of the men were showing signs of life or had a pulse, Pidduck said.
SFD paused the recovery mission due to unstable soil surrounding the trench.
The Department of Labor and Industries is conducting an investigation, and then SFD will determine the best way to recover the bodies, Pidduck said.
The men were attempting to get to a fractured sewer line on a steep slope when the trench collapsed, according to SFD. The trench was 20 feet wide, 25 feet long and 15 feet deep.