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Man has life-threatening injuries after being trapped in collapsed Surrey trench

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SURREY — One man was rushed to Royal Columbian Hospital with life-threatening injuries after being buried to his waist in a collapsed trench at a Surrey work site Tuesday afternoon.

Surrey RCMP Cpl. Bert Paquet said the incident happened when a trench at 104 Avenue and 158th Street collapsed with three workers in it.

One of the men was trapped in the trench and later rescued by fire crews.

BC Ambulance Service spokeswoman Kelsie Carwithen said they got the call at 12:36 p.m. and that the patient was transported to Royal Columbian Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

She had no other information about the man's injuries.

Assistant Surrey fire chief Brian Woznikoski said fire crews managed to free the man, who then climbed up a ladder on his own, and was transferred to hospital by an ambulance.

He said the man was buried to his waist for up to 30 minutes.

Woznikoski said his crew was told at the scene that the man's injuries were minor, but noted that might have changed if he suffered pressure injuries while trapped.

Woznikoski said WorkSafeBC will investigate the incident, which involved a private company putting in a sewer line.

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