Man Decapitated In Rescue Attempt

December 16, 2003, 7:42 AM EST

A construction worker was decapitated when co-workers tried to dig him out of a collapsed ditch with an excavating machine, officials said.

The 39-year-old man, whose name was not released, became trapped in the ditch Monday afternoon at the intersection of Taylor Street and DeGroot Place on Staten Island. Colleagues tried to free him and another trapped worker with a backhoe, accidentally severing the first man's head.

Workers had dug the 16-foot trench as a part of project to connect houses on Staten Island to a sewer line. Its walls collapsed after the two men went inside.

It had not yet been determined whether the man died because of the decapitation or when the trench's walls collapsed, said Paul Iannizzotto, a fire department spokesman.

The other worker, a 66-year-old man whose name was not released, was rescued after firefighters arrived at the scene and was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital with minor injuries, police said.

The Formica Construction Co. of Staten Island had been given a permit to dig the trench, according to Ilyse Fink, a spokeswoman for the city's building department. She said the company would be issued at least one violation, for failing to properly reinforce the trench's walls.