Questions Remain After 2 Men Die In Construction Accident In Edmond

Friends and family are left with more questions than answers after a construction accident killed two men in Edmond Tuesday afternoon. 

Their bodies were found at the bottom of a manhole, 25-feet below ground near Covell and Midwest Blvd. 

The workers were contracted by the City of Edmond, but the city has yet to release much information about the accident. 

A 911 call captured the moments that the second of the men went down the hole to try to save his coworker. 

"They got a guy down in a manhole. He's passed out," said one 911 caller.  

"I tried to go down the ladder and I can smell I'm pretty sure it's H2H gas poisoning and that's why he probably fell down," said the second 911 caller. 

The trapped men's own friends tried to save them while they waited for rescuers. 

The crew belonged to Belt Construction, a Tex-Arkana company contracted by Edmond to lay newer, wider sewer pipes. 

"I got a call that one of the guys just got washed away by water. We're testing these pipes after I got here, I looked for the other guy," that 911 caller explained. 

Edmond Fire said the pipes had just 18.5% oxygen levels, well below what a human needs to survive. 

"The deeper the manhole the less oxygen it has in it and the more methane gas would be in it from the waste that flows through it," said industry insider, Jackie Jones with Ray's Sewer Service, INC. 

"The large manholes that stick up from the ground. You see that typically in areas that have a tendency to have lots of water or flooding," explained Edmond Fire Deputy Chief, Chris Denton. 

The victims' names and causes of death have not yet been released. News 9 did reach out to Belt Construction, but they didn't call back.