Falling Earth Crushes Construction Worker : Fatality: Co-workers in a deep trench are unable to save the 27-year-old Orange man, who was helping to install a drainage pipe.

A construction worker was killed Monday when a large chunk of earth fell on him, crushing his chest against a backhoe, authorities said.

Co-workers tried frantically to save Jimmy Castillo, 27, of Orange, who was pinned inside a 16-foot-deep, 25-foot-wide trench. But his internal injuries were too severe, and he was pronounced dead shortly after the 10:30 a.m. accident at the Santa Margarita Water District, authorities said.

“It’s an extremely tragic accident,” said Alex Rados, president of Steve P. Rados Inc., the construction company that employed Castillo and was installing a drainage pipe at the site.

“He was an outstanding worker . . . one of our really top people,” Rados said. “He had been with the company over four years. We were hoping to make him a foreman soon.”

Castillo apparently was trying to unfasten a chain attached to a large pipe that had been lowered into the hole just before the dirt fell on him.

“While he was doing that and coming out of the ditch, a large portion of the earth let loose and the force pushed him into the backhoe,” said Orange County Deputy Coroner Richard Rodriguez.

Rados said the section of dirt fell off another pipe above the hole. “It hit him so hard and fast . . . he was crushed,” Rados said.

A couple of the men on Castillo’s work crew rushed to help him. They pulled him to the surface and called for paramedics.

But when the paramedics arrived, there was nothing they could do for Castillo.

“He had massive internal injuries,” Rodriguez said.

Officials from Cal/OSHA, the state’s job safety agency, were called to the scene to investigate the incident, as is standard procedure for construction- and industry-related fatalities. Attempts to contact Cal/OSHA officials were unsuccessful.

Castillo is survived by his pregnant wife, Anita, and two daughters, Jennie, 5, and Lydia, 2.

“His wife is very distraught,” said Christina Lopez, Castillo’s sister-in-law. “Jimmy was a warmhearted guy, a good man, a good family man who loved his kids.”

Lopez added that Castillo “loved his work and worked real hard for his company.”

Rados said this was the second fatal accident for the company in the past five years. The other death involved a mechanic who had an accident while working on a truck.

Rados said Castillo’s death was a “terrible loss” for the company. “It’s a tough business,” he said.