WYANDOTTE (WWJ) -- It was a frantic rescue operation in Wayne County overnight, after two workers were trapped under hundreds of pounds of dirt and rocks.
It happened Tuesday evening at Walnut and 17th Street, south of Northline Road in Wyandotte.
According to the Wyandotte Police Department, a contract crew working to replace a backyard sewer line was digging in a hole at least 20-feet deep when the ground gave way, trapping two men under unstable soil.
When the 911 call came in at around 7 p.m., Wyandotte Police said its officers responded, along with fire department, and two specialized units: The Western Wayne Urban Search and Rescue Team and The Washtenaw Urban Search and Rescue Team.
Collectively, the rescuers were able to successfully free the men after several hours of intense work, police said.
At around midnight, a Life Flight Helicopter landed at Pulaski Park and transported one of the victims to the hospital.
"As a direct result of these efforts, the two men are expected to survive!" police said, adding: "OUTSTANDING JOB!!" in a release shared Wednesday morning.
Now the work begins figuring out what happened that led to that trench collapse.
Police said city officials have confirmed that the two men were not Wyandotte utility workers, and that the incident remains under investigation to determine the cause of the collapse and whether proper safety measures were in place.
Further information about the two workers, including their names and hometowns, has not been released.