Trench Worker Dies After Back River Treatment Plant Injury: BCFD

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — Officials said a man died Monday working in a trench at the Back River Waste Water Treatment Plant. Rescuers freed him from the 20-foot trench before he was rushed to the hospital, according to authorities.

Transito Rodriguez Cruz, 36, was pronounced deceased at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, officials said.

Cruz had been working at a construction project in a large secured trench at the treatment plant when he was hit by the bucket of an excavator, officials said.

Rescuers were dispatched to the plant in the 8200 block of Eastern Avenue at 12:09 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 17, for a report of a man digging a trench who was hit by a piece of equipment.

By 12:40 p.m., the Baltimore County Fire Department said rescue teams had freed him from the confined space. Crews immediately rendered advanced medical care and took Cruz by ambulance to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in critical condition, where officials said he later died.

The death of Cruz is under investigation by Baltimore Environmental Police and the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

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