Brothers Manuel and Heriberto Vergara were working on a warehouse renovation on 11th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues in Brooklyn when a wall collapsed, trapping them in cement and under rubble. The Department of Buildings issued a stop-work order on site and also issued violations to the construction company for "failing to secure the site, demolishing without a permit, and performing work that wasn't approved." The brothers had been excavating the foundation and were "at the bottom of an eight-foot-deep trench"; the construction company did not "install the kind of shoring required for trenches deeper than five feet," according to the NY Times. It's believed the that landslide was also spurred by the recent rains.
Firefighters dug the brothers out with their bare hands and shovels, as well as a powerful Con Ed vacuum that helped suck up the debris. The Vergaras only had minor injuries; three firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion.
