MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A construction worker has died after becoming trapped within a pipe in a canal on Thursday in Miami-Dade County, authorities confirmed.
Danny Euceda said his uncle works as a diver for Downrite Construction.
Battalion Chief Rogelio Vandamas, a spokesman for Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, said there were six divers searching for Euceda’s uncle after he failed to surface.
“Our dive lights are pretty much ineffective due to the sediment in the water,” Vandamas said.
It took about 40 minutes to find him. Euceda said his uncle was alive but unconscious when he was found near the intersection of Northwest 119th Street and 24th Avenue in Westview.
The worker had been working in a culvert and when co-workers noticed he had not surfaced, they called 911, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel used a helicopter to transport the victim to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he later died.
Police said the victim’s cause of death will be determined by the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office.
Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editors Wayne Roustan and Frine Gomez contributed to this report.