Daniel Contreras, a 32yearold construction worker, was killed Monday morning when a trench he was digging in Thousand Oaks collapsed on him.

The Oxnard resident was digging a 4½-foot-deep trench to put in a sewer line for a home when loose dirt and shale from the trench began to fill in on him. He bent his legs in an attempt to jump out, which caused the dirt to bury him up to his chest, said Capt. Barry Parker, spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department.

The fire department was called at 8:49 a.m. It took firefighters two minutes using hand tools and buckets to get Contreras out of the trench. He wasn't breathing and had no pulse. He was immediately given CPR and taken from the construction site on Antares Court to Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center. Contreras was pronounced dead at about 10:30 a.m.

"Soil weighs about 125 pounds per cubic feet. There was no way for him to take a deep breath," Parker explained.

This type of accident is rare. Hundreds of miles of trenches are dug every year uneventfully in Ventura County, Parker said. Still, firefighters are fully trained in trench rescue.

As with any occurrence of this type, Cal-OSHA was called and is investigating the incident, Parker said.

- Nancy Needham