NEWTON, MASS. (WHDH) - A DPW worker is in stable condition after being extricated from a trench on Bonita Street in Newton Thursday morning.
Crews responding to the scene just after 9 a.m. found the worker buried up to his hip in a muddy ditch.
“All of a sudden I saw one of the guys from the City of Newton screaming on the phone, ‘Hurry up, get here, get here, he’s fallen in the hole!'” neighbor Susan Delicata told 7NEWS.
“I just came out and the two guys were trying to help to get him out of the hole,” she added. “I just saw the top of his head and it was all mud.”
Newton Fire Chief Greg Gentile said the worker’s legs were buried and crews wasted no time rescuing him.
“We found the victim conscious and breathing,” Gentile said. “There are probably minor injuries at this time.”
Neighbors say the worker was in the trench fixing a leaking sewer line when the walls came caving in.
“There will be an investigation and we’ll work to find out what happened and try to prevent anything like this from happening again,” Gentile added.
The worker was taken to Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is in stable condition.
Officials say OSHA has been notified of the incident.
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