Pretoria – Three contract workers died when the sides of a deep trench they were working in collapsed on top of them and buried them alive.
The incident occurred on Myburgh Street, in Capital Park, at about 15:55 on Friday.
By Friday evening, the City of Tshwane’s Emergency Services Department said it was still attempting to recover the bodies of the three men.
“One contract worker was transported to a nearby hospital with moderate to serious injuries, while two escaped with no injuries from a trench estimated to be six metres deep and four metres wide,” the City said.
“The workers are employees of a contractor that is contracted to the City of Tshwane and were busy with repair work of a sewage line in Capital Park.
“Rescue technicians are using two back actor earth working machines to create a stable sloped access which will be secured with shoring equipment to create a safe access for technicians the bodies.”
The names of the victims have not yet been released pending the notification of their families by the South African Police Services (SAPS) who were also on the scene.
“It is estimated that the recovery of the three males aged between 20 and 35 years may take more than 12 hours because of the unstable ground,” the City said.
“The scene will be handed over to the SAPS for further investigation once the bodies have been recovered.”
