One man is dead and rescue crews have freed another after a trench collapsed on a building site in outer Ballarat.
Air Ambulance Helicopter will fly the man to the Royal Melbourne Hospital after it took several hours to free him from the trench.
The injured man was buried up to the waist and remained conscious during the rescue attempt.
Ambulance Victoria reported the freed man had lower body injuries and was in a serious condition.
Worksafe investigators are on the scene and will compile a report on the incident.
The body of the dead man has not yet been recovered from the trench.
Paramedics and other emergency workers were called to the outskirts of Delacombe shortly after 11am on Wednesday after reports the men were trapped at a worksite near the Winter Creek on the Glenelg Highway.
One of the pair, who is yet to be formally identified, has died, police confirmed.
UPDATE 1pm Travis Bramble, a pipe layer for BMD who works across the road, says he saw the incident.
"Everything above 1.5 metres has to be boxed out so to speak, you've got to come up a metre and down a metre.
“The other thing we use is shields, which stops things collapsing.
“If it's four metres deep you've got to have a shield”
"When I first found out (I felt) pretty sick actually; it's the whole ‘look after your mates’ (message).
"The building industry's changed over the years, it used to be get in and get it done. But in regards to the fact it could have been one of our boys, it's a good wake up call and I'll be bringing it up at our next meeting that's for sure.
Hazmat teams have arrived on the scene from both directions on the Glenelg Highway.
More emergency services are coming from Melbourne and Warrnambool. WorkSafe Victoria are on the scene.
They report there is heavy machinery on the worksite, which also features some large metal poles.
A digger is still operating on the site. It's unclear at this point what it's doing.
The incident has occurred at the Winterfield Estate on Greenhalgh’s Road.
Representatives of Winterfield declined to comment. A Pipecon vehicle was present on the site. The company also declined comment when contacted by The Courier.
The Glenelg Highway remains closed and police are diverting traffic onto Greenhalghs Road and Bells Road.
EARLIER:
A large emergency operation is currently under way in Delacombe, with reports two men became trapped in a trench just after 11am this morning.
The Glenelg Highway is closed to traffic as part of the operation, which has triggered a massive emergency response.
The air ambulance has landed, there are at least a dozen CFA vehicles on scene and police have blocked the road.
The incident occurred in a vacant paddock on the highway, believed to be where a housing estate is being developed.
Heavy machinery is visible on site as the incident continues to unfold.
Full details of injuries have not yet been released.
