Body Recovered After Construction Site Trench Collapse

LAKE FOREST, CA — The body of a worker who died as a result of a deep trench collapse at a Lake Forest construction site on Wednesday afternoon was at last recovered hours later, according to on scene reports. After six hours of careful digging, Orange County Fire Authority firefighters uncovered the remains of the buried worker.

Coworkers of the buried man remained at the scene until the man's body was recovered.

Firefighters and hard hat wearing workers removed their helmets, holding a moment of silence after the recovery was made.

The 17-foot by 10-foot tall trench was being excavated at around 3 p.m. when for unknown reasons the side of the trench sluffed off covering the worker and resulting in his death, OCFA said Wednesday.

OCFA Capt. Larry Kurtz described the recovery efforts.

"Recovering the body will be a slow process as we must move carefully to prevent further cave-ins," he said.

The construction site is located at the intersection of Glenn Ranch and Viejo Ridge Drive, which is in a new development in the Lake Forest community.

“Firefighters assembled heavy equipment for the recovery including vactor trucks and a trench shield. The shield is a big steel box that will secure the side of the trenches and enable firefighters to work the bottom of the trench, safely.”

According to Kurtz, the methodical methods are both for safety and to give the body as much dignity as they can during recovery efforts.

The identity of the worker who perished has not yet been released.

This is a developing story. Refresh this page for updates.

Images courtesy OCFA, Amy Spurgeon Hoffman