Update 4:45 p.m.:  ABC 7 News has learned that when the large pile of dirt first collapsed on the man, he was completely covered up--with dirt over his head.

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The three men who had been working with him uncovered his head and face enough to allow him to breathe. Then they uncovered him down to his waist. The man was described as in his fifties.

The four men had been doing foundation work in a trench outside the Regency Lane Apartments. Shortly before noon, a large pile of dirt collapsed on the man, who was down in the trench about six or seven feet deep.

When firefighters arrived, they quickly put up boards to secure the ground while working to dig the man from the loose dirt that still partially buried him.

While working to excavate him, firefighters began treating the man with oxygen and medication.

Finally after about two hours, crews pulled the man out of the trench, conscious but in critical condition.

After continuing treatment at the work site, the man was flown to the trauma center.

Update 2:40 p.m. The man has been flown to the trauma center in Baltimore.

Update 2:05 p.m.: The man has been freed from the collapsed hole and is receiving treatment from paramedics before being flown to the trauma center.

A rescue operation is underway for a man in District Heights who is in critical condition, trapped and buried up to his waist, after a hole he was digging collapsed around him.

Prince George's County Fire and Rescue's Tech Rescue Team is working to free the man from the confined space at 6860 Walker Mill Road.

A Maryland State Police helicopter will fly the patient to Baltimore Shock Trauma for hyperbaric chamber treatment once he is freed, according to fire personnel.

The accident happened at approximately 11:40 a.m. Sunday morning.