A man who died when a wall of the swimming pool he was digging in Orange collapsed around him was identified Friday by the Orange County coroner’s office.
Orange Fire Department crews recovered the body of 45-year-old Luciano Gonzalea Munoz, the coroner’s office reported.
The coroner was contacted at 11:20 a.m. on Dec. 20 to pick up the body of Munoz, according to Supervising Deputy Coroner Larry Esslinger. The collapse was first reported at 10:52 a.m. on Dec. 19 in the 6200 block of East Cliffway Drive, according to Orange Fire Capt. Ryan O’Connor.
Workers assembled a crane to lower a protective steel cage into the hole so that Munoz’s body could be recovered without the threat of another collapse, O’Connor said.
Munoz was digging with four other men when part of a wall collapsed around him and he was buried up to his shoulders, O’Connor said.
The fire captain on the scene called for Urban Search and Rescue units from Orange, the Orange County Fire Authority, Anaheim and Huntington Beach while the first-arriving firefighters were lowered into the hole with ropes and began trying to clear the dirt away from Munoz, he said.
There was a secondary wall collapse and Munoz became completely buried, but firefighters continued to work to save him for more than two hours, O’Connor said.
At about 1:30 p.m., the effort changed to a search for Munoz’s body, which continued Sunday.
CalOSHA was investigating the collapse, he said.