The Chicago Sun-Times

Firefighters used their bare hands to dig out two laborers trapped for more than three hours by dirt that collapsed around them as they worked on a catch basin Sunday in an eight-foot-deep hole.

The incident happened behind a condo building in the 4400 block of North Dover.

Firefighters used struts to bolster the walls of the hole, but at times their hands were the best tools for digging out and keeping dirt from caving in, said Fire Department spokesman Quention Curtis.

One man, buried up to his waist, used his body as a block to keep more dirt from falling on his co-worker. The other was buried up to his chest.

The men were in serious condition when they were taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center on Sunday evening, but they were conscious and talking, Curtis said.

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August 24, 2009