A 23-year-old construction worker died Tuesday afternoon after a trench collapsed in South Anchorage, according to the Anchorage Police Department.
John See, Anchorage Fire Department spokesman, said an AFD search-and-rescue team, police and medics responded to the intersection of 91st Avenue and King Street shortly after 1 p.m.
The construction worker, whom police have not identified, had been working on a sewer pipe in a trench that measured roughly 7 feet deep by 15 feet across when it collapsed and buried him, said APD Sgt. Mark Huelskoetter.
His co-workers "quickly tried to extricate him and once they got him out his injuries were just too severe and he died on scene," Huelskoetter said.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched an investigation into the workplace accident, said Heather Beaty, a spokeswoman for the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Beaty said she could not release any information on the accident as the investigation continued.