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Two Construction Workers Die After Falling Down 30-Foot Trench, Getting Trapped

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Melanie Wilcox Contributor
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Two construction workers died Monday in an accident at a power plant at John F. Kennedy International Airport, officials said.

The debris buried two workers inside a 30-foot trench right before 11:00 a.m., officials with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said, per the New York Post.(RELATED: Florida Construction Worker Dies After Crane Tips Over, Plunges Into Water In Key Largo)

Firefighters and Port Authority officials recovered the buried bodies of the victims, who were then declared dead at the scene, a fire spokesperson said, according to the Post. Their identities were not released, and it’s not clear what they were doing before they were buried.

The gas-fired cogeneration facility in Jamaica, Queens, generates energy sold to the Port Authority, according to Calpine Operating Services Company, Inc., which owns the plant, the Post reported.

“A stop order for all construction at JFK has been issued,” a spokeswoman for the Port Authority, which oversees the airport, said. “The Port Authority is conducting a thorough investigation and will be cooperating with all other investigative agencies.”