An image from the scene of an Iowa construction site where a trench collapse occurred in June 2023, according to a lawsuit.Photo:civil complaint
civil complaint
A man who said he was buried alive after atrench collapsed at an Iowa construction siteis suing his former employer alleging gross negligence.
On June 12, 2023, Kilgore’s co-worker at Edwards Enterprises — who the complaint claims lacked the proper OSHA education and training “to ensure compliance with OSHA excavation safety requirements for this excavation job” — dug a trench using an excavator, the complaint said.
The complaint also alleged that Gregg Edwards, the president of Edwards Enterprises, did not arrive at the job site to ensure the trench and the surrounding area were safe for his workers.
PEOPLE contacted Edwards for comment on Wednesday, Dec. 11.
At around 1:25 p.m. local time, as Kilgore was working inside the “12-foot deep, improperly benched, improperly shored, inadequately-protected trench,” the trench wall quickly collapsed, “fully burying Trevor alive under a wall of dirt,” read the complaint.
When the collapse happened, Kilgore dove towards the side of the wall and “scrunched” his body up to create an air pocket and to avoid crushing his head entirely, the court documents note.
As he later described to a Polk County deputy while waiting in an ambulance to take him to a hospital, Kilgore said, according to the complaint, “I looked behind me and that entire wall was coming at me. I tried my best to scrunch, so it didn’t crush my head. It smacked my head against the other wall. And then I just yelled for help.”
An image from the scene of an Iowa construction site where a trench collapse occurred in June 2023, according to a lawsuit.civil complaint
According to the complaint, the other employee who dug the trench told a Polk County official that he heard Kilgore say, “Please save me. Don’t let me die.”
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“While buried alive, Trevor Kilgore thought he was going to die,” read the complaint, which further stated that he was concerned that his wife would have to take care of his kids.
The complaint said that Kilgore’s head was cleared of dirt after 5-10 minutes but remained buried alive from the neck down for 15-20 more minutes, adding that he also had difficulty breathing due to the weight of the dirt on him.
“While buried alive, even after his head was uncovered, Trevor Kilgore worried that he would not be able to get his lower half out from the dirt and that he might be ripped in half,” said the complaint.
The court filing claimed that Gregg Edwards told a Polk County deputy at the cave-in site, “Everybody can talk about shoring and boxes, everybody can do all that s***. Is it unsafe? Abso-f***ing- lutely. But it’s hard to make it safe. You gotta get a guy in there to make it safe.”
With the assistance of emergency responders, Kilgore emerged out of the trench and was taken into an ambulance, “more than 30 minutes after he was buried alive,” the complaint stated.
In addition to Edwards, the complaint named Jerry’s Homes, R&D Plumbing and the other employee who allegedly dug the trench in which Kilgore was to complete his work as defendants in the suit, alleging negligence.
“As the designated competent person for this job, Defendant Edwards was required to know all applicable OSHA excavation safety rules and regulations before any excavation began,” read the complaint.
“Defendant Edwards knew that failure to follow these excavation safety requirements made it highly probable that Trevor Kilgore would be seriously injured or killed,” the complaint later added.
The complaint also alleged that Edwards “knew that this work was ‘unsafe,’ yet failed to properly train his employees on how to safely work in and around a trench.”
Kilgore is seeking damages not specified in the complaint.
source: people.com
