A worker was buried alive at a dangerous construction site in Milpitas. (Video capture: San Jose Mercury News)
State officials are considering filing criminal charges against a contractor after a worker was buried alive Saturday at a dangerous construction site in Milpitas.
City officials had previously ordered all work to be stopped because the hillside might collapse.
• A contractor received a stop-work order due to unstable soil but continued work at the site anyway.
• A dirt wall collapsed into a trench and buried a worker alive.
• The contractor, who was in China, may face criminal charges.
The workplace accident occurred at about 10:30 a.m., according to an ABC News report.
Keyvan Irannejad, chief building inspector for the city of Milpitas, said the victim — 37-year-old Raul Zapata of Hayward — was working at the Calaveras Ridge Estates construction site when a 12-foot wall of unstable soil caved in on him.
Other workers — including family members — tried to pull him out but he was crushed beneath an avalanche of dirt. Zapata’s brother, cousin, and nephew were working at the site that day, but they were unable to save him. They told ABC News that they watched in horror as he was buried alive.
When police and firefighters arrived at the scene, it was too late to save Zapata. He was entombed in the 12-feet-deep trench that had been dug as a placement site for the foundation of a 5,800-square-foot house.
The soil was so unstable that anything rescue workers could do to pull Zapata’s body out from under the mountain of loose dirt would make matters worse — and would put the rescue crew in danger of being buried themselves. They were not able to retrieve his body until Monday night.
The general contractor, U.S. Sino Investment Inc., had been issued a work stoppage order three days earlier because the hillside was at risk of collapsing due to a combination of poor work by the contractor and the previous weekend’s rains, according to a San Jose Mercury News report. But the contractor pressed forward anyway — and did not tell any of the workers about the stoppage order.
Many of the construction workers are from Mexico and are undocumented. That is not an issue, as far as the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) is concerned.
“This is a situation which has nothing to do with an immigration status,” Cal/OSHA spokesperson Erika Monterroza said. “They have the right to work in an area that is safe, that has the sufficient protection in order for them to work safely.”
Local contractors and building tradespeople are outraged at the behavior of the construction company, which is run by CEO Richard Liu. Liu is believed to have gone to China.
“It’s clear this person has no regard for employees,” said Michael Miller from the Builders Exchange of Santa Clara County. “To continue a job after getting a stop notice like that is just absolutely appalling.”
It’s also illegal.
“Well, obviously, when a stop work order is issued, it is illegal to continue with the work and they can be subject to the fine and the penalties,” Irannejad said.
There’s a second legal issue as well. Cal/OSHA investigators discovered that the company has no Workers Compensation insurance, so it could not legally employ any workers in any case. A fire department official told the Mercury News that the Calaveras Ridge construction site is now being treated as a crime scene.
State officials were in the process of determining whether they would file criminal charges against the company.
Milpitas Wrongful Death Lawyers
The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented the families of wrongful death victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.
