Man Killed In Deadly Banning Construction Accident
A 37-year-old Hesperia man died on the job after a trench collapsed around him while he worked on an underground power line in Banning, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported. Martin Samaniego’s crew from Riverside contractor Pouk & Steinle Inc. was reportedly working on an electrical line on a Banning street when the trench collapsed. Samaniego was trapped seven feet under. He suffocated and died on the scene, the newspaper reported.
A spokesman for the company told the newspaper that they have not yet determined what caused the trench to give way. According to the article, Samaniego was the sole breadwinner of his family, supporting his wife, Maria, and 2-year-old daughter. Family members, who were in apparent shock over the tragic accident, are still gathering money for Samaniego’s funeral, the article said. The industrial accident is being investigated by the California Department of Occupational Safety and Health (CAL-OSHA), the Banning Police Department and Pouk & Steinle, Samaniego’s employer.
Trench cave-ins are unfortunately common industrial accidents that cause death and injury. Over a five-year period, from 2001 to 2005, 26 Californians have been killed in trench collapse injuries and 207 injured in such incidents, according to CAL-OSHA’s Web site. In almost every instance of trench collapse, the cause was a failure to shore up the trench properly, the agency says.
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