SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah, Oct. 7, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — A 20-year-old man from Lehi is dead after a trench collapsed on him Friday afternoon in Saratoga Springs.
Late Friday, Saratoga Springs Police identified the man as Youngwon Kim.
Owen Jackson, public information officer for Saratoga Springs, said a two-man crew was working on a foundation for a home in the area of 1920 S. Centennial Blvd. at about 2:35 p.m. Friday when the incident occurred.
Jackson said one worker was operating a backhoe and digging out a trench, and the second was assisting on the ground. The backhoe operator finished up and left the area for about 10-15 minutes.
When he came back, his co-worker was missing, and he then found the trench had collapsed and his co-worker was buried.
Jackson said the backhoe operator started CPR while paramedics were still on their way, but the man who was buried was pronounced dead at the scene.
Jackson said it’s not yet clear why the deceased man was in the trench, but he may have been doing some sort of clean up.
This latest trench collapse comes exactly one week after a similar incident in American Fork.
Antonio Gonzalez, 41, from Provo, was killed and another worker broke his leg after the trench collapsed in the area of 500 S. 860 East at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 30, said Lt. Sam Liddiard, American Fork Police Department.
Crews using a track hoe had been digging a major water line at the time of the incident, Liddiard said. Gonzalez climbed in to help level a pipe when the 6-foot-deep trench started to give way from the bottom up, and two other men climbed into the trench to help the first worker.
Gonzalez was buried up to mid-thigh. His body was transported to the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner in Salt Lake City to determine a cause of death.
The man that broke his leg was transported to the hospital. The other man who climbed in to help was also buried to mid-thigh, and though he did not appear to be injured, he was also taken to the hospital as a precaution.
