A construction worker working on the U.S. Highway 27/441 road widening project in Lady Lake was killed on Feb. 2.
Lake County Fire Rescue and The Villages Public Safety worked through the night to find body of the victim, who was later identified as John Joseph Terranova, 27, of Leesburg, died.
A Lake County spokesperson said the worker was trapped in the hole of a retention wall. “A part of the wall, which was holding up parts of the remaining bridge over County Road 25, had caved in on him,” Daily Commercial has reported.
“On behalf of Lake County, we offer our condolences to the family and our thoughts are with them during this time,” a spokesman for Lake County said in an email.
Terranova worked for Maylor Foundation Contractors, a subcontractor of Southland Construction on the $45.3 million widening project for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). The project, which started in 2020, is expected to be completed in the Fall of 2023.
FDOT District Five public information director Jessica Ottaviano said an investigation is continuing into the accident.
“The Florida Department of Transportation has and will continue to discuss safety on this project with the contractor to ensure a culture of safety is enforced in the work zone,” she was quoted as saying in Villages-News.com.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating the incident.
