A man is dead and two others are seriously injured after a pit collapsed on them on Wednesday, Toronto police say.

Police said the men were fixing a water pipe in the area of Bayview Avenue and Ruddington Avenue, near Finch Avenue E., when the pit collapsed at about 5:25 p.m.

Platoon Chief Chris Rowland, spokesperson for Toronto Fire Services, said the three workers were inspecting water pipes in an excavation behind a facility, inserting a camera in a pipe, when one of the walls of the site buckled and a large amount of soil fell on top of them.

Rowland said Toronto Fire Services initially put ladders in the hole and brought shovels but quickly realized it was a trench rescue. Two crews with ropes went into the hole, he said.

“Most of this digging, because it’s on top of people, was done by hand. These guys were probably inside digging by hand for the better part of just over an hour to dig them out completely,” Rowland said.

“These two gentlemen survived because the two crews that were inside that hole risked their lives.”

Toronto Fire Services says crews dug two of the men out of the pit mostly by hand. (CBC)

One man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Toronto Paramedics took two others to hospital. Initially, police said the men suffered life-threatening injuries but later said their injuries were serious and non-life-threatening.

“In my 38 years, I have never seen danger like this.”

Ontario’s Ministry of Labour has taken over the investigation, according to police. CBC News has reached out to the ministry for further information.