SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is now investigating a water main rupture that led to the death of a construction worker and the serious injury of another on Tuesday.
According to The Villages Public Safety Department, the two workers were part of a crew working in an excavation trench near McNeill Drive that morning.
The area is part of the new large-scale development in The Villages’ District 16, specifically at what will become the Village of Sandy Hill.
VPSD stated that while working in that excavation trench, the two workers were caught in a burst of pressurized water when a water main in the trench ruptured, causing the two to be knocked “into the excavation”. One worker was able to escape, while the second became trapped in the water and mud.
Alongside Wildwood Fire Department, Wildwood Police Department, and Sumter County Fire Rescue, VPSD stated they located the worker submerged in the mud but faced “extremely challenging conditions involving a flooded excavation and significant mud entrapment.”
When rescue personnel recovered the worker, he was pronounced deceased. The surviving worker sustained “serious injuries” and was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center as a trauma patient. Neither worker was publicly identified.
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OSHA is now investigating the incident. WFTV has reached out to the agency for comment but had not yet received a response by time of publication.
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