Written by A construction worker died and a second was seriously injured Tuesday morning, Nov. 10, when a pressurized water main burst into the trench where they were working at McNeill Drive and Harmony Drive in The Villages, according to Villages-News, citing The Villages Public Safety Department.
Crews were called at about 7:53 a.m. The rushing water knocked both workers into the pit. One got out with serious injuries and was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center as a trauma alert. The other was trapped under water and thick mud.
The Villages Public Safety Department’s Special Operations Technical Rescue Team worked the scene with mutual aid from Sumter County Fire & EMS, which brought specialized trench rescue equipment, according to Villages-News and 352today. Rescuers dug adjacent trenches to drain water and used heavy equipment to reach the trapped man, but he was pronounced dead and his body was recovered.
352today placed the scene near a roundabout at County Road 470 and McNeil Road, close to the new Village of Sandy Hill near Eastport.
The scene was turned over to the Wildwood Police Department, and the cause of the rupture remains under investigation. Neither worker has been publicly identified, and no details on the contractor or the project have been released.
Our thoughts are with the worker’s family, coworkers and the first responders who worked the scene.
Sources: Villages-News, Nov. 10, 2026; 352today, Nov. 10, 2026.