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Company Involved In Fatal Boston Trench Collapse Faces Arraignment

BOSTON (AP) — A Boston company and its owner are facing arraignment on manslaughter and other charges in connection with a trench collapse in October that killed two workers.

Atlantic Drain Services Inc. and owner Kevin Otto are scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Suffolk Superior Court. They were indicted earlier this month.

Authorities say 47-year-old Robert Higgins and 53-year-old Kelvin Mattocks died after a fire hydrant collapsed and flooded the 14-foot deep hole where they were working.

south end worker dies in trench
The company was digging a trench on Dartmouth Street in the South End on Oct. 21, 2016 when it flooded and the walls collapsed. (WBZ-TV)

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley says the company failed to reinforce the trench walls as required by federal regulations. Conley says during the investigation, Otto provided doctored records to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and concealed them entirely from state investigators.

Otto and his lawyer have not commented on the charges.

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