DENVER—The death of a plumbing contractor who was buried under an estimated 2,000 pounds of dirt after a trench collapsed was ruled an accident Sunday.
Coroner’s officials identified the man Sunday as Erick Acosta Hernandez, 26, of Aurora.
He was working on a sewer line Saturday at a construction site when he dropped his shovel into a trench several feet deep, firefighters said. The trench, which did not have required safety supports, collapsed when the man entered the trench to retrieve the shovel, fire officials said.
The man’s co-workers were using a backhoe to try to remove dirt from around him before firefighters arrived. Fire Department spokesman Lt. Phil Champagne estimated Hernandez was covered for about 20 minutes.
He was pronounced dead at a hospital Saturday afternoon, coroner’s officials said.
