Firefighters rescue Mario Bergeron after he was buried in rubble at an archeological dig site at Place d'Youville in Old Montreal on Wednesday. (CBC) An archeologist digging for the remnants of Canada's first parliament building has died after he was buried in rubble earlier this week in Old Montreal.

Mario Bergeron, 55, died Thursday, one day after he had been trapped in a hole at an archeological site near the corner of McGill Street and Place d'Youville.

Police said the man was digging when the ground below him suddenly gave way, and he was trapped waist-deep in debris.

Firefighters managed to pull him out, first carefully moving away the rubble before attaching him to a harness to lift him to safety.

With serious injuries to his legs, Bergeron was taken to hospital where he later died.

The province's coroner's office and the Quebec Workplace Safety Board are investigating.

Bergeron had been working for Montreal's Pointe-à-Callière Museum. He was part of a team uncovering the first permanent parliament of the United Province of Canada, when Montreal was the capital from 1843 to 1849.

The building, located in what was then known as Ste-Anne's Market, was burned to the ground by an angry mob in 1849.

Key pieces of Canada's early legislation were adopted in the building, including the act establishing "responsible government."