Construction Accidents: Construction Worker Stuck for Three Hours

A construction worker was rescued early in the afternoon on Tuesday, January 11, after being stuck for almost three hours in waist deep mud in Julington Creek, Florida. While working at a highway construction site between State Road 13 and Interstate 95, a hole in the ground opened up and trapped Jose Garcia. The emergency rescue crew worked to suck the water out of the mud while others worked to pull him out.

Construction Worker Free After 3 Hours in Trench

St. Johns County Fire Rescue team member, Jeff Prevatt, said, “It’s very time-consuming to try to get the water out of there and the mud of there. You can’t get him out until you break the suction, and that’s what they’ve been working on for a while.” In fact, emergency personnel had to bring in a backhoe in order to move enough mud to allow Garcia to be free. Officials with the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OHSA) are investigating to determine if there were any workplace safety violations related to this incident.