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Boy Dies At Port Charlotte Church Construction Site

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By JOHN DAVIS

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: January 12, 2009

PORT CHARLOTTE - A 14-year-old boy was killed Sunday afternoon after falling into a muddy trench at a church construction site.

The boy was identified as Danilo Riccardi Jr.

Charlotte County Fire & EMS workers found the boy's body buried in the trench when they were called to the site at 24300 Harbor View Road at 3:26 p.m.

Only the top of his head was visible when they got to the scene, fire department spokeswoman Dee Hawkins said. Paramedics uncovered the boy's face and tried for 30 minutes to resuscitate him, but to no avail, Hawkins said.

Crews from Charlotte County public works, the sheriff's office and the fire department then spent the next two hours digging his body out of the ditch.

The teenager is reportedly from North Port. The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating the death

Hawkins said the teen and his brothers, ages 14 and 12, were at the construction site of the Bethanie French Seventh-day Adventist Church helping their father, who was working there.

The boy was using a bucket to get water from the trench to mix concrete when he was "sucked in," Hawkins said. He was buried in quicksandlike dirt and water.

Public works crews used heavy equipment to vacuum dirt and water from the trench so the body could be retrieved.

The Charlotte County medical examiner is conducting an autopsy.

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