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Worker dies in Longmont trench collapse

longmont deadly trench collapse.png
Posted at 10:04 PM, Sep 07, 2021
and last updated 2021-09-13 19:00:21-04

LONGMONT, Colo. — A man is dead after being buried in a trench while doing repair work in Longmont Tuesday.

The Longmont Fire Department responded to 152 Baylor Dr. at 12:02 p.m. for a report of a trench collapse.

A contracting crew was doing sewer repair work at a vacant home when an 87-year-old man was buried in an approximately 9-foot deep trench, fire officials said. The man, who was part of the contracting crew, was attempting to make a repair when the sewer line trench collapsed. Shoring was not being used at the time, according to Longmont Public Safety.

The victim was recovered at approximately 2:15 p.m.

Fire officials said they don’t believe there was criminal intent, but Longmont police will investigate.

His family identified him Sunday as Robert Rey Castillo. He was the owner of Castillo Excavating Inc., which has been in business since the 1970s.

According to the obituary his family provided, Castillo was the sixth of thirteen children born in Texas. After he and his wife, Martha Castillo, were married in 1953, they moved to Denver where they've lived ever since.

"He endured the fields for much of his young life, leaving shortly before the UFW was created. He left school in the fifth grade and picked cotton, sugar beets, and other produce. He traveled throughout the south with his parents and siblings and worked alongside them each day," the obituary says. "He was a fixer of all things, a builder, a helper, a teacher and the best father and grandfather ever created. He will be missed beyond measure."

His family has created a GoFundMe to help with cover the funeral costs for Castillo.