2 children killed in trench collapse in N.C.

The bodies of two children were recovered Monday after crews worked through the night to try and save the pair, buried under a wall of dirt at a construction site at a home in North Carolina.

The bodies of the 6-year-old girl and the 7-year-old boy were recovered from a pit at a home in Stanley, N.C., about 20 miles from Charlotte, Lincoln Country Emergency Medical Services spokeswoman Kimberly Green told the Los Angeles Times.

“The two children were buried in approximately 10 feet of earth after a trench collapsed on them,” she said in a telephone interview.

Officials worked feverishly to find the two cousins after a telephone call from the boy’s father on Sunday afternoon. The father had been digging at the site with a backhoe earlier in the day.

“The caller reported that two children of unknown ages had become trapped underneath dirt at a residential construction site,” Lincoln County Emergency Management said in a statement.

“Due to the location of the incident, which is below ground, the initial rescue efforts were unsuccessful in reaching the trapped children. A structural engineer is on site to assist with this operation, that has now moved into the recovery phase,” it added.

It was not known what the father was building, but it involved a deep trench or pit with sloping sides. The children were playing at the bottom when the walls collapsed, officials said.

An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the collapse.

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michael.muskal@latimes.com