Tragic: A paramedic examines the
body of a Metro Water Department worker who was crushed to death
when a trench collapsed in Umlazi. Photo: Gcina Ndwalane,
Daily News
Barbara Cole
March 15 2010 at
01:18PM
A Durban Metro Water worker has been crushed to death despite a
desperate bid by frantic co-workers to rescue him from a collapsed
trench.
In a race against time on Sunday, with concrete, mud and rubble
still falling, they risked their own lives, digging with their bare
hands and spades to try to save their stricken colleague.
But what started out as a rescue attempt became a recovery
operation as it became clear that the as yet unnamed man had been
killed instantly, said SAPS Search and Rescue Inspector Dave
Steyn.
The man had been asphyxiated by the mud compressing his chest and
there had also been visible fractures to his lower limbs, Steyn
said.
The tragedy happened as Metro Water workers, helped by a team
from an outside company, were installing new water pipes opposite
the King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi.
The victim was in the trench alone when a water pipe unexpectedly
burst, softening the soil and causing rubble, mud and concrete to
wash away and collapse on him.
When his fellow workers heard a scream for help, they rushed to his
aid as a 4m deep crater appeared and he was buried beneath the
collapsing infrastructure.
As the various rescue services began arriving - SAPS Search and
Rescue, Netcare 911 and the Metro Fire Department, as well as
detectives - a crowd of onlookers began to gather and police had to
keep them back as the recovery operation continued.
Steyn and Netcare 911 paramedic Konrad Jones donned safety
harnesses and went into the trench to ease the victim's broken body
into a special recovery basket.
And with the Fire Department on standby in case there was another
emergency and the rescuers got into trouble themselves, they and
the basket were winched to the surface by a Netcare crew.
"The whole operation took three hours as we had to make sure
everything was safe," said Steyn.
The water had to be cut off and the detectives had to carry out
their investigations before the body could be winched up and taken
to the mortuary.
The Department of Labour has been informed of the accident.