A federal safety agency is investigating after a worker was rescued near Keystone after he was buried in a trench collapse for four hours and in 100-degree heat.
The accident happened Monday afternoon while the man was working by himself on water pipes, according to Jerome Harvey, Pennington County fire administrator.
The man works for Alexander Drilling in Hill City, according to a spokeswoman with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. She says the agency is investigating the incident.
Harvey said the man was working 10 to 12 feet underground when the narrow trench collapsed, burying and trapping him up to his waist. The worker yelled for about an hour until someone found him around 2:16 p.m.