LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — The investigation into the death of a Lake County construction worker at a work site Wednesday is ongoing.
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Lake County Fire Rescue crews recovered the worker’s body Thursday morning after spending more than 10 hours digging through sand and clay in an effort to save him.
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It was late afternoon Wednesday when construction crews called 9-1-1 reporting one of their own buried in sand and clay.
Lake County Fire Rescue crews in training at their operations center rushed to the scene, launching trench rescue operations they’d spent hours practicing.
The work site is part of a $45-million Florida Department of Transportation project to widen a four-mile stretch of Highway 27 from four lanes to six.
The contractor on the project, South Construction, said the worker involved was a subcontractor.
Crews worked throughout the night, digging a shovel at a time and using a suction truck to pull out the soil. It wasn’t until they were four feet down into the material that they first saw the worker’s body.
“Our guys were working from the minute they got there to the minute we left 150 percent,” Lake County Fire Rescue Special Operations Battalion Chief Robert Fickett said.
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FDOT sent a statement offering condolences to the family. They say work on the project has been paused while the investigation continues.
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration is also launching an investigation into the incident.
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