2 people dead in trench collapse at St. Paul construction site

Update: June 18, 6 a.m.

Two people died after a trench collapsed on them Friday afternoon while they were working at a construction site in St. Paul.

One of the victims' bodies was recovered Friday night; the other early Saturday.

The collapse was reported just before 3 p.m. Friday on the 700 block of Mount Curve Boulevard, just north of Ford Parkway in the city's Highland Park neighborhood.

“Based on the size of boulders and type of soil, it’s believed that the two individuals would have perished … minutes after the collapse,” Deputy Fire Chief Roy Mokosso told the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Friday afternoon. He described the work of rescuers as “a recovery operation."

Another worker who was in the area called 911 after attempting a brief rescue, Mokosso said.

In an update early Saturday, the fire department said its crews — joined by St. Paul Public Works and Minneapolis Fire Department personnel — rotated and worked through the night until the second victim was found at about 3 a.m.

“We are so distraught about this family’s loss and this construction company’s loss,” Assistant Fire Chief Matt Simpson told the Pioneer Press as crews worked at the scene Friday. “We come to work every day to perform our jobs, and we train for these type of events. Time was just not on our side today.”