A worker was pulled from a trench collapse on South Shore Drive in South Yarmouth on Nov. 18, 2025. After his rescue, he reached out to shake hands with one of his co-workers as he was wheeled to a waiting ambulance at a town sewer construction project near Parkers River Beach.

One person is dead, and two others have been transported to the hospital after a trench collapsed in Massachusetts on Tuesday, Nov. 18, authorities said.

"First responders found, actually, two people in the trench," at 152 South Shore Drive in South Yarmouth, said Yarmouth Fire Chief Enrique Arrascue. "One .... was buried up to about his waist. And then another person that had heroically jumped in, in an attempt to rescue and help, and he also got himself in part of the trench collapse."

The man who jumped into the trench in a rescue attempt was able to get out on his own and was transported to Cape Cod Hospital. The second victim, who was buried up to about his waist, took longer to extricate.

"We had a lot of collapse in the trench that continued to happen as we tried to remove him," Arrascue said.

Around 1:20 p.m., the man was removed from the trench, and transported by ambulance to an awaiting MedFlight helicopter at Smugglers Beach, where he was flown to Rhode Island Hospital trauma center.

Recovery of third victim may take several hours

"Unfortunately at this point we've moved to a recovery operation. We have a third victim in the trench, who is deceased," said Arrascue. The Plymouth County Tech Rescue team was there to support with the operation, according to Arrascue. A Barnstable County technical rescue team will provide backup.

Crews will be working over the next several hours to remove the deceased man. No further details were provided.

The initial call came in at about 8:51 a.m., Arrascue said during a press conference. Yarmouth responded along with Hyannis Fire Department and the Plymouth County Tech rescue team. Arrascue thanked all teams who assisted in the operation and continue to assist.

Arrascue declined to answer any question about the history or integrity of Revoli, the construction company working as part of the Yarmouth sewer project.

Desiree Nikfardjam is a reporter covering breaking and trending news. You can reach her at DNikfardjam@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: One dead, two rescued in Massachusetts trench collapse. 'Buried up to his waist'

Reporting by Desiree Nikfardjam, Cape Cod Times / Cape Cod Times

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