Crews Resume Effort To Recover Body Of Man Killed In Trench Collapse
GROSSE POINTE WOODS (WWJ) - Crews will resume their search Thursday morning for a 59-year-old man who died following a trench collapse in Grosse Pointe Woods.
Leland Rumph was digging a 20-foot deep sewer line around noon Wednesday for a new home on Fairway Street, in the area of Mack and Moross, when the earth around him collapsed.
Shadd Whitehead, Special Operations Chief with Wayne County, said Rumph was buried with heavy clay but was conscious when emergency crews arrived.
"Given the situation and his position in the trench, as it was described to us, he was partially buried up to the mid-chest area," Whitehead said. Then something went horribly wrong.
"He was talking to the original would-be rescuers and first responders originally, and as they got into the trench to be able to help him, they had a secondary collapse begin to occur," Whitehead said.
Rumph, of Sterling Heights, was fatally injured in the second collapse. One of two rescuers in the trench was also injured. He is being treated at a local hospital for spinal and neck injuries, but is expected to recover.
Joseph Ahee, director of public services for Grosse Pointe Woods, said crews worked through the night but had trouble reaching Rumph's body, which has still not been recovered.
"They shored the walls of the collapse so that they could begin to excavate and recover the body when they had yet another collapse (Wednesday) night. They had exposed part of the victim and then another collapse occurred and then he was completely covered," Ahee told WWJ's Mike Campbell.
Ahee said Rumph's body is actually stuck in more of a hole than a trench.
"The hole is so deep, the victim is down probably about 16-feet I would estimate, and as you go down, the hole narrows," he said. "So, what you see at the top is not what you see at the bottom."
Ahee said crews are going to have to remove part of the road to prevent any further collapses while trying to retrieve Rumph's remains.
"In all honesty, you want to try to keep it safe, and if that means taking out a lot more street and making the hole bigger, then that's what you do," he said. "That wasn't done in this case apparently."
Authorities said it appears there was no protection in the trench in the event of a collapse. The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration said the incident remains under investigation.
Fairway Street is closed to car and pedestrian traffic until the body is recovered.
MORE: Construction Worker Killed When Trench Collapses In Grosse Pointe Woods
