Two workers stuck up to their shoulders in wet mud inside a Potomac trench were rescued just after 8 p.m. Thursday.
According to Pete Piringer with Montgomery County Fire and Rescue, the accident happened in the 10900 block of Martingale Court around 5 p.m. Thursday while a crew of four men were working on the foundation of a home.
Suddenly, the ground collapsed under their feet, trapping two of them in several feet of wet mud. A third co-worker went to a home next door and asked for help.
A technical rescue team and an urban search and rescue team worked for about three hours stabilizing the hole and pumping air down to talk to the men.
"We were preparing for an extended operation, a protracted operation, and it was over pretty quickly," Piringer said.
Both workers were treated at a local hospital and released.
#mcfrs tech rescue crews continue to shore up the unstable trench on Martinsgale ct in Potomac, 2 workers trapped pic.twitter.com/nPQEt570KG — Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) August 14, 2014
#mcfrs tech rescue have completed task of shoring trench & plan to remove 1 of the injured workers from the hole pic.twitter.com/clT5wLsQh1 — Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) August 15, 2014
U/D Martingale Ct, Potomac - 2nd victim has been extricated, EMS evaluating Priority 2 adult male pic.twitter.com/lpDAOJ00OV — Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) August 15, 2014
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