close
close
  • February 18, 2025
1 worker dead, 1 hospitalized when trench collapsed during sewer line repairs

1 worker dead, 1 hospitalized when trench collapsed during sewer line repairs

ROME, Georgia (Atlanta News First/Gray News) – A water and sewer department employee died late Thursday evening in Georgia after a trench collapsed.

Two workers were repairing a sewer line when the ditch they were in collapsed on them. Emergency responders were called to Coosawattee Avenue near Shorter Avenue in West Rome around 11:30 p.m.

The two men were trapped for several hours before they could be rescued.

Both workers were taken to Floyd County Medical Center for treatment of their injuries.

The city of Rome later confirmed that one of the workers had died. He has been identified as 55-year-old James Rayburn.

A water and sewer department employee has died after a trench collapse in Georgia.
A water and sewer department employee has died after a trench collapse in Georgia.(Family of James Rayburn)

The city says Rayburn was a “longtime employee of the water and sewer department.”

The condition of the other employee, identified as Michael Walters, is unknown at this time.