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Worker's Body Pulled From Collapsed Milpitas Construction Site

MILPITAS (CBS/AP) - Authorities have recovered the body of a carpenter who was buried alive at a Milpitas construction site when a hillside collapsed.

The Santa Clara County coroner identified the man Tuesday as 39-year-old Raul Zapata of Hayward.

Zapata had been working on the construction of a 5,800-square-foot house on the hillside and was in a 12-foot ditch when it caved in Saturday.

KCBS' Matt Bigler Reports:

The San Jose Mercury News reports that the city had ordered work at the site halted three days before the accident because recent rains and an absence of shoring in the foundation hole had made it unsafe.

California workplace safety regulators are now investigating Fremont-based U.S.-Sino Investment, which apparently did not comply with the order.

Authorities weren't able to pull Zapata's body out of the soil until Monday night because of dangerous conditions.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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