Eickelman and Yankey were working in a trench at the site of the new Millstadt Sewage Treatment Facility located off of East Laurel Street. They were employees of Midwest Excavating Inc. of Benton, which is one of the subcontractors working on the $7.4 million expansion project.

“They were in about a 10-foot trench,” said Brian Donley, the deputy chief of St. Clair Special Emergency Services.

Firefighters from Millstadt and Swansea, Millstadt and Medstar EMTs and members of the St. Clair Special Emergency Services were called to the scene at 3:10 p.m. They worked for several hours to remove the bodies from the trench. Eickelman and Yankey were pulled out just after 10:30 p.m. Monday night.

The cause of the cave-in has not yet been determined. Donley said officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration arrived at the scene last night and had begun their investigation into what caused the collapse.