Victor T. Mills died attempting to save Jason D. Moore from suffocation, Newcastle, Washington, August 29, 2001. Moore, 28, climbed into an underground vault at the construction site where he was working. He lost consciousness in the vault’s oxygen-deficient atmosphere and fell to a safety platform about eight feet into the 20-foot-deep vault. His friend and coworker, Mills, 34, heavy equipment operator, who was nearby, was alerted. Mills immediately entered the vault, descended to Moore, and tried to rouse him. Mills then began to climb back to the entrance of the vault, but he too fell. He dropped through an opened hatch in the safety platform and fell to the bottom of the vault. After some minutes, Moore revived and climbed toward the entrance of the vault, then was pulled from it by others. He required hospitalization. Firefighters removed Mills from the vault. He had died of injuries received during his fall.
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