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Jordan Barab
'Buried alive': Two workers had no time to escape when trench collapsed, killing one
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/oct/30/buried-02/
By William C. Bayne
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Two workers trapped Tuesday when several tons of dirt caved in on them, killing one, had only a moment's warning, Horn Lake officials said Wednesday.
Bertram Hill, 50, of Hernando, was pulled from the 17-foot-deep trench where he and a partner were working on a sewer line at about 12:40 a.m. Wednesday, more than eight hours after the cave-in.
David Wayne Mooneyhan, 46, of Coldwater, died of suffocation, according to DeSoto County Coroner Jeffery Pounders.
The two had been replacing a sewer line for Phillips Construction of Hernando. They were the only two in the trench at the time of the collapse.
Hill was rescued after dozens of emergency responders used high-tech blocking and bracing equipment.
And after a lot of prayers were offered.
"It was a miracle," Horn Lake Fire Chief David Linville said of Hill's rescue. "The Good Lord took care of him. He had literally been buried alive, and he was pulled to safety."
Linville said Mooneyhan's body was removed about two hours before Hill was finally rescued.
The accident was one of several such accidents in the area in recent years. Two construction workers were trapped in the cave-in of a utility trench in Rossville, Tenn., in February. Both survived.
And in 1998, a 42-year-old Memphis man died after a ditch caved in on him at a construction site in Olive Branch.
In the Horn Lake accident, Linville said rescuing Hill was an hours-long process.
"We had to shore up the walls every three to four feet to ensure that our people weren't trapped as they tried to dig the men out," he said. "We were digging with shovels and by hand."
He said cribbing and air-shoring equipment helped stabilize the walls of the trench to allow responders to enter and dig safely.
When rescuers finally located Hill in the ditch, they pumped air and oxygen to him through the last 18 inches of dirt. Earlier, he had only been able to breathe from air pockets and gaps in the dirt around the cave-in.
Near the end of the ordeal, a special vacuum pump from U.S. Environmental in Memphis was used to suck loose dirt from the trench and speed recovery.
Hill, who had been talking with rescuers for hours, began using his arms and hands to help fill 5-gallon buckets with the dirt when his body was freed above the waist.
"He was doing all he could to help us out," Linville said.
Hill was flown to the Regional Medical Center at Memphis moments after being pulled to safety. He was listed in serious condition at The Med Wednesday afternoon.
A spokesman for The Med said Hill was "not in condition to talk with anyone other than family members."
Spencer "Penny" Shields, Horn Lake's public works director, said he believes the trench had been dug earlier in the day and that Mooneyhan and Hill were preparing to quit work for the day and exit the trench.
He said two city workers, Parnell Carter and Brian Wilson, were on the site to observe that the trench would be properly closed -- covered with sheeting to avoid having something fall into the hole.
"Someone on top saw the ground underneath a tree start giving way," Pounders said. "He yelled and the men in the trench started running, but they couldn't get away from it. They were caught."
He said the initial cave-in began near the bottom of the ditch, undermining the area beneath the tree. Then the top of the ditch caved in on top of the men.
Pounders said both men were about 12 feet down in the ditch, indicating that they had possibly climbed up about five feet from the bottom of the trench before the dirt surrounded them.
Linville said there was five to six feet of dirt on top of the two men.
"They seen it coming, but they couldn't get out," he said.
Shields estimated the weight of the total amount of dirt that caved in to the ditch at eight to 10 tons.
He said a strip of dirt about 14 feet long, three feet wide and at least six feet deep sloughed into the ditch after it was undermined.
Horn Lake city workers called the alarm at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday. As emergency crews began arriving, city workers were using shovels in an attempt to dig down to the trapped workers.
"Part of the problem at first was we didn't know where to dig," Linville said. "We didn't know exactly where they were. We could talk with Bert, but he couldn't tell us where he was."
Responders included firefighters from Horn Lake, Southaven and Walls, the search and rescue unit from the DeSoto County Sheriff's Department, and the county Emergency Management Service.
A support team from the American Red Cross provided coffee and hot chocolate to rescuers as they emerged from the ditch.
Shields said city leaders have been contacted by investigators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
"I know there's going to be an investigation, but I don't know any details of that investigation."
He said Phillips Construction is known as a "good contractor" in several different jobs for the city.
The owner, Mike Phillips, was admitted to a local hospital early Wednesday morning after complaining of chest pains.
He could not be reached for comment Wednesday, Shields said.
-- William C. Bayne: (662) 996-1408
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Jordan Barab