Man trapped in trench at Oshawa construction site dies in hospital

It was all hands on deck Tuesday to rescue a man who was trapped in a trench that was roughly three metres deep.

Crews were called to Verdun Avenue shortly after 8 a.m on Tuesday. According to Oshawa fire chief Derrick Clark, “he was under some heavy equipment that dislodged and fell on him.” That heavy equipment turned out to be the front loader off of a backhoe.

The Ministry of Labour has been advised that the worker has passed away.

“Our thoughts are with the family and colleagues of the worker who passed away. Our investigation remains is ongoing in this matter,” the Ministry said in a statement.

The man, in his late 40s, was conscious and talking to the crews during the extraction process but things needed to move quickly, so the talking stopped. Fire crews formed a plan where they would lift the equipment up with the use of rope and chains and they would then lift the victim out.

Nervous residents in the neighbourhood watched while crews performed CPR because there were no vital signs present. ORNGE ambulance was stationed at a nearby park, but paramedics made the call to rush the victim by ground to Lakeridge Hospital in Oshawa via ambulance.

Since the man had been working as part of a water abatement project, a ministry inspector and an engineer attended the scene. The employer and constructor of the project is Orin Contractors Corporation. Chief Clark says that “at this point, it’s unclear what caused the bucket to fall.”