WYANDOTTE COUNTY —The Occupational Safety Health Administration is investigating a fatal trench collapse that occurred in Kansas City, Kansas on Thursday afternoon. The victim has been identified as 54-year-old Francisco Rodriguez, according to Kansas City, Kansas Police.
Just after 2p.m. Thursday, the Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department responded to 16th Street and Metropolitan Avenue following reports of a worker missing at a fiber optic installation site, according to a statement from the department..
Coworkers became concerned when they noticed an excavator at the site had stopped moving and the operator was nowhere to be seen.
When they checked the trench, workers found that it had collapsed. The trench was 16 to 18 feet wide and as deep as 25 feet in some areas. KCKPD’s Major Case Unit has opened a death investigation.