WYANDOTTE, Mich. (WXYZ) — Around 7 p.m. Tuesday, a 911 call spread panic through Wyandotte. The caller reported two men stuck in a deep hole.
Wyandotte police officers, the fire department, and special rescue teams raced to the area of 17th Street and Walnut Street, where the two workers were stuck.
Community members from blocks away came to watch.
Aiden Wilson described it as "Absolutely crazy."
Estevan Vasquez added, "Cars flying through, people are coming outside, I heard a helicopter coming down."
One of the workers was able to free himself quickly, but first responders worked for four-and-a-half hours to extricate the other worker.
Wednesday, at the site of the hole, we met JD Bombery. He is the owner of A&D Plumbing, the company the two men worked for.
He told us, "I cannot say more than enough good things for the first responders."
According to Bombery, the workers were installing a new sewer line when the two employees got stuck.
He knows the one that was saved very well. He said it's his brother, Doug.
He said, "When I say it's a family-run business, I mean family-run business."
According to Bombery, his team was almost done with their work Tuesday when a chunk of the wall came down on his brother's leg.
He said the dirt was wet and heavy. That's what prohibited his brother Doug from getting out of the hole.
Bombery said, "Another helper that was outside the hole, who wasn’t looking at the situation, heard that a chunk of the wall cave and got kind of panicky and called 911."
Chief of the Wyandotte Fire Department, Jeremy Moline, told us, "When you’re digging trenches that far down, there should be safety precautions. We are trying to figure out if those were in place."
MOISHA is now investigating the incident.
Many have said the hole the men were in was around 20 feet deep. Bombery said it was more like 9 feet deep.
His brother Doug has been released from the hospital and is now on his way home.
"He’s in good spirit," said Bombery. "Little shooken up, who wouldn’t be after laying in a hole for four-and-a-half hours?
