1 killed, 3 firefighters injured after sidewalk collapses
LAKE MARY, Fla. – A county worker was killed and three firefighters were injured after a sidewalk in a Florida suburb collapsed on Friday, officials said.
A county environmental service department employee was working on a water main leak beneath the sidewalk in Lake Mary when it collapsed, officials said.
Responding firefighters tried to use a hydraulic extraction known as “Jaws of Life” to remove concrete slabs from the worker, but they were unaware that wires from a transformer ran directly into the hole and they got shocked, Seminole County Fire Chief Otto Drozd said at a news conference
“So at the point they moved part of the sidewalk to give the victim some relief, … the hole became energized, electrocuting several of our firefighters,” Drozd said.
The three firefighters were taken to a hospital as a precaution and were in stable condition, Drozd said.
The environmental service worker wasn’t immediately identified.
The death is being investigated as an accident, said Kim Cannaday, a spokeswoman for the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.
Lake Mary is located about 20 miles (32 kilometres) north of Orlando.
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