Labourers escape burial in collapsed trench

DUBAI // Three labourers who became buried in a collapsed trench in Al Qusais were rescued after more than an hour. The accident occurred at 4pm on Monday on a construction site in Al Qusais Industrial Area 5. The workers were in a four-metre deep excavation when it caved in, said Dubai Police. Other workers who escaped the collapse reported the incident and Rescue Police, Civil Defence and ambulance services responded to the scene shortly after. "One needs to be very cautious when dealing with accidents involving sand, as it is constantly moving and more sand might collapse and bury the rescue workers. This incident was dangerous as the sand mass was enormous and we could not control its movement in the beginning," said Captain Ali al Naqabi, the head of the operation team. To stop the movement of the sand, the rescue team had to fasten wooden boarding to secure the trench before rescue workers were able to pull the trapped men out. The rescue took more than an hour to complete with the assistance of site engineers and civil defence. The men suffered moderate to intermediate injuries and were transferred to a hospital for treatment. newsdesk@thenational.ae