Witness to Trench Collapse Recalls Moments of Fright

It remained unclear yesterday whether the brothers worked for a licensed home improvement contractor, which would have been required for the type of foundation work they were doing. A man at the home would not comment. Maria Campos said the brothers did primarily house painting and interior home improvement jobs.

Linda Sherman, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation -- which investigates job-site accidents -- said state officials went to the scene last night and will conduct a thorough investigation.

"Trenches are extremely dangerous," Sherman said. She said investigators are trying to determine who was supervising the workers and whether the crew was licensed to do the work. "We're concerned about every single fatality. It's horrible."

Three people in the state died as a result of accidents at construction sites involving collapsed structures in 2004, the latest figure available. That year, the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health division investigated 81 job fatalities.

The Gueveras were raised in El Salvador and came to the United States as teenagers.

"They were great guys," Maria Campos said yesterday at the victims' home in Hyattsville. "They didn't go out much, just from home to work."

Samuel had been in the country for about five years and his younger brother had been here for barely a year, she said. Relatives in Maryland delivered the news of the deaths yesterday to the victims' mother, who lives in the state of La Unión in El Salvador, along with their five sisters and Samuel's 5-year-old daughter.

The Gueveras wired money home once or twice a month, Sergio Campos said. "They would help their mother," he said.

Maria Campos said the family is planning a wake this weekend and hopes to ship the bodies to El Salvador early next week so they can be buried there.

They were trying to find a funeral home that allowed them to stay overnight, which grieving families in Latin America often do.

"In our culture, we always stay the whole night with the family," she said.