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2 men killed in Michigan trench collapse ID’d as brothers

(WJXT)

LOWELL, Mich. – Two men who died last week after a trench collapsed in western Michigan have been identified as brothers.

The Bowne Township Fire Department identified the deceased men as Pete Bencker, 59, and Ron Bencker, 68, both from Alto.

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Fire Chief Rick Vriesenga said Pete Bencker served 29 years on the Bowne Township Fire Department before retiring last year.

He and his brother were working on a 14-foot (4.27-meter-deep) deep trench that was being dug for drainage where a pole barn was being built when it collapsed Friday in Lowell Township, just east of Grand Rapids.