A fall into a sewage tank left one plant worker dead in Florida, the Daily News reported on Monday.
Hermino Padilla Jr., 48, was found inside a pipe after he plunged into a container at the facility in West Palm Beach on Saturday. The man hadn't been seen at his post for 18 hours and was reported missing when he was found.
Before rescue crews discovered that a grate was missing, police and coworkers spent a lot of their search time looking around the 100-acre site.
How he fell in is not yet known. Former coworkers, family and friends said Padilla was a skilled, hard worker and they can't comprehend how he would have fallen into the water. He was standing on a strong network of grating made of steel that workers regularly walk across to check water levels when he fell in, Palm Beach Post reported.
Lori Colombino, the city spokeswoman, said Padilla's death was accidental. His son, Steven, said his father usually worked for long periods of time at the treatment center.
"Of course I'm upset. Something could have been and should have been done about it," he said, referring to what he described as working conditions that could be more safe.
Padilla worked as a corrections officer at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office for 20 years before working at the sewage plant. He left the sheriff's office in 2007.
