A contractor drowned in a trench while carrying out repairs in Salt Rock, KwaZulu-Natal.
The incident happened on 8 May.
CONTRACTOR DROWNS IN SALT ROCK
According to emergency service, IPSS Medical Rescue reports, the man was busy working in a trench when a water pipe burst.
This caused the trench to collapse, burying the man waist-deep in the sand and filling up with water. Unfortunately, the man could not escape, and colleagues could not dig him out.
“IPSS Medical Rescue paramedics and IPSS Search and Rescue members worked alongside Kwadukuza Fire Department and CERT Tongaat to free the man. Sadly, he was declared deceased on the scene. Our sincere condolences to his family and friends,” Dylan Merrick from IPSS said.
TRENCH COLLAPSES ON THREE WORKERS
In a separate incident in 2023, three City of Tshwane contractors lost their lives when a trench they were working in collapsed on them.
City of Tshwane Emergency Services spokesperson Charles Mabaso said one contract worker was transported to a nearby hospital with moderate to serious injuries. Two escaped with no injuries from a trench estimated to be six metres deep and four metres wide.
The workers were employees of a contractor that was contracted to the City of Tshwane and were busy with repair work of a sewage line in Capital Park.
Mabaso said it took 12 hours to retrieve the bodies of the three contractors because of the unstable ground.