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COURTESY: HAWAII NEWS NOW
A construction worker died after being partially buried in a trench while working on a home on Waialae Iki Ridge.
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A 40-year-old construction worker died Tuesday after a mound of dirt fell into a trench at a Waialae Iki residential construction site and trapped him, authorities said.
The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as Gilbert Macalma of Waipahu. An autopsy will be done today.
Macalma worked for W.A. Felix Builders and died at the Queen’s Medical Center, said Clayton Chun of the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Chun said a state safety officer was investigating.
The owner of W.A. Felix said he had no immediate comment.
The incident happened at about 9:45 a.m. at 1908 Piimauna Place in a gated section of Waialae Iki, where workers were digging a 3- to 5-foot-deep trench along a wall, said Honolulu Fire Capt. Terry Seelig.
Three men were in the trench with hand tools trying to move a mound of dirt from the wall when a portion of the mound fell on them, burying them knee-high to chest-high in dirt, Seelig said.
By the time firefighters arrived, co-workers using shovels had freed the men and were giving CPR to one of them, who had gone into cardiac arrest, Seelig said.
Firefighters took over and assisted paramedics, who took the man to the hospital. The other two workers were treated at the scene, Seelig said.