CLIFTON PARK — A 20-year-old construction worker from Massachusetts was killed Monday when an area he was excavating for a new foundation collapsed on him and covered him with earth.

The incident happened on Chapel Wood Drive in the Country Knolls North development. The excavation was behind an existing home.

Investigator Tim Brown of the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department said that the man, whose name was not released Monday night, was using an excavator to dig the foundation when he apparently got off the heavy machinery to inspect the ditch.

When the man got into the ditch the unstable earth collapsed on him and buried him. Brown said the incident happened about 10:30 a.m.

A co-worker was in the area working on another project and thought his co-worker had gone with the homeowner for coffee. When the homeowner came back, the co-worker learned the 20-year-old man wasn’t with him and noticed the excavator was still running.

They realized that the man was buried in the collapsed ditch and started digging for the man and called for emergency personnel.

Police and emergency personnel were at the scene into Monday evening. Brown said the man’s body was removed Monday evening and an autopsy will be performed later Monday or Tuesday morning.

The man’s name was not released because his family had not been notified. The man worked for the Steven Fiske Co., Brown said.

The construction accident remains under investigation by the county sheriff’s department.