More than 24 hours after a worker was swept away by rising stormwater in a drainage pipe near Chicago, his body was found by emergency responders July 28.
At about 12:50 p.m. July 27, police officers for the Village of Downers Grove were flagged down by workers at a storm-drainage rehabilitation site. The village is about 22 miles west of Chicago in DuPage County.
The workers reported that two workers were trapped in the 11-foot-diameter storm drain below the street that is undergoing rehab work. Heavy storms in the area that caused flooding and tornadoes had swept the workers deep into the pipe.
“The Downers Grove Fire Department responded and immediately began a technical rescue,” the village reports.
More than seven hours later, they rescued one of the workers, found about 200 feet away from where he had entered the pipe. He was reportedly in good condition at a nearby hospital.
The other worker, however, remained missing, and the Fire Department transitioned to a recovery operation.
“Current water conditions within the storm sewer make further search efforts extremely dangerous,” the village posted to its website at the time. “The search efforts will resume when the water conditions within the sewer improve to a safe condition.”
Powered byRecovery efforts continued through the night and into the next day. The missing worker’s body was found at about 5 p.m. July 28.
Both workers were working for Vortex Lining Systems LLC of Houston, Texas, which won the $8.5 million contract to rehabilitate the pipe in 2025.
"We are devastated by the loss of our team member following an unexpected major rain event and are doing everything we can to support his family during this incredibly difficult time,” said a Vortex Companies’ statement to ABC7 Chicago news station. “We thank rescue crew members and first responders for their tremendous efforts."
