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2 Men Rescued From Trench At Macomb County Construction Site

CHESTERFIELD (WWJ) - A rescue effort was needed on Monday to save two men who were trapped in a trench in Chesterfield Township.

The accident happened late Monday afternoon, witnesses told WWJ Newsradio 950, at a construction site on Edgewater Street in the area of 21 Mile Road and Jefferson Ave., north of Selfridge International Guard Base in Chesterfield  Township.

Reports say the pair became trapped waist high in dirt and clay while digging a trench as foundation for a new home along the water on Monday. The two men, who are reportedly friends of the home owner, were rescued around 6:15 p.m.

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(Photo: Jon Hewett)

The first man was pulled out after roughly two and half hours, and the second man was pulled out about a half hour later. Both men were transported to a local hospital by EMS. The conditions of the two men are unknown at this time.

"Had these guys been a little deeper they would not have survived," Chesterfield Township Fire Chief Doug Charbonneau said. "... They were very lucky that they were buried only waist deep and our guys, especially the trench rescue team did a fantastic job, of controlling further cave-ins while they completed the rescue."

Both men were conscious and alert throughout the process, and even helped assist with the rescue crews attempt to remove them from the trench. The rescue took longer than authorities would have liked because the home is located along a canal with unstable ground conditions.

"The unfortunate part is we are along a canal (so) the ground is not stable, it's very mucky," Chesterfield Police Chief Brad Kersten said. "Every time they remove something because of the moisture area it drains back in."

Residents were still being held out of the area shortly after the rescue so the technical equipment could be moved out of the neighborhood.

"We are trying to accommodate them," Kersten said. "Unfortunately this is a private subdivision. There is one way in and one way out, and there is so much technical equipment in the street blocking it so unfortunately the residents got to hang on for a little bit."

It's unclear at this time what caused the accident. The men's name have not been released.

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