MITCHELLVILLE, Md. (AP) -- A construction worker was killed in the collapse of a trench Wednesday. The body of Ronald Gordan, 22, of Hyattsville, was found about 6:30 p.m. EDT, Prince George's County police said.
About 3 1/2 hours earlier, co-workers had seen him trying to escape from the trench as dirt fell around him.
Gordan, an immigrant from Guatemala, had a wife and children there, said Mark Brady, a spokesman for the Prince George's County Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department. His only relative in the United States was a brother who was also working at the construction site at the time of the accident.
Crews and equipment from throughout eastern Prince George's County and a backup crew from Anne Arundel County were dispatched to the Hamptons at Woodmore, a home construction site.
Gordan was working in a section of the trench by himself and was seen trying to make it to a 12-foot stepladder when he disappeared under hundreds of cubic yards of soil.
``The fresh dirt that was around the trench and on top came back into the hole,'' Brady said.
While much of the digging was conducted by hand, cranes were used to move back the grainy, loose, wet soil so that crews could work safely. Recent rain in the area had left the boggy soil at the site fairly saturated. Fire and EMS commanders in charge at the scene also called on the co-workers of the missing man to use their equipment to help remove dirt from the area.
The construction site was prepared by Delmarva Site Development of Chester, Md. Officials with the company were not immediately available for comment.
