BREAKING NEWS: Man buried, dies in worksite accident

One man is dead following a residential worksite accident in a gated community in the Milpitas hills Saturday. The worker was buried in a deep trench by a large amount of dirt after a retaining wall gave way at the home at 814 Calaveras Ridge Drive, according to a city official.

The body had not been removed as of Monday noon, according to a city source.

Keyvan Irannejad, chief building official with the Milpitas Building and Safety Department, provided the following information: "On Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, Building and Safety Department staff responded a call related to a fatal construction accident at the construction site of residence located at 814 Calaveras Ridge Drive. The worker was crushed in a 10 to 12 feet deep trench, cut for the future foundation placement, due to sliding of unstable soil, caused by the lack of shoring of the trench walls. Prior to the accident, on Wednesday, Jan. 25, Building and Safety Department inspector has issued a stop work notice sighting the lack of shoring and requiring review by the soils engineer to determine required action and provide recommendations for shoring. Despite of the stop work notice, work in the trench was continued, which led to the fatal accident. Building and Safety Department staff on the site met with and consulted with Milpitas Fire and Police departments' personnel and also contacted CAL-OSHA compliance engineer.

Currently, the project soil and structural engineers, and excavation company were contacted

to provide immediate remediation actions."

Fire Associates of Silicon Valley, who responded to the scene, posted the following on its website:

"Arriving firefighters were confronted with a mountain of loose dirt above the area where the worker was trapped, and bravely made access to the area where the worker was trapped. Once they reached the worker they discovered there was nothing they could do to help him, and withdrew from the area to work out a safe recovery plan.

"Investigators from Cal OSHA, Milpitas PD and the Santa Clara County Coroner's office were called to the scene. While investigators did their work fire department officials were working on recovery options ...

"By 10 p.m. (Saturday) it was determined the threat of further collapse of the loose dirt was too dangerous to continue the operation and operations were suspended for the evening. The plan for Sunday is to cover the worker with a concrete box and use an excavator to pull the piles of dirt down, rendering the area safe. Once the collapse threat was removed the excavator crews will be able to dig around the concrete box and complete the recovery operation."

The Milpitas police and fire departments have not issued a statement with more details yet. A fire department official said the Calaveras Ridge site is being treated as a crime scene.

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BREAKING NEWS: Man buried, dies in worksite accident