WESTERN PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL -- Maria Cigarroa, a migrant worker from South Bay, died Monday morning when her tractor flipped over in 2 feet water and 4 feet of mud.
Workers passing the area near US Highway 98 near Hatton Highway noticed the downed machinery, and called for help.
"We don't know what happened. Nobody saw it go in, nobody saw anything, we just got a call," said Kirk Kennedy, a supervisor for Big Lake Planting.
Detectives believe the woman parked the tractor on the bank of the canal, and the weight of the vehicle caused it to slide in. Supervisors arrived on scene and pulled Cigarroa out, but it was too late. The 37 year old was dead.
"They did what they could, but at that point it was too late. It really doesn't take that long to drown," said Detective Sean Oliver with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
"Well we don't know how long....how much time actually elapsed from the time where she fell in, or the tractor actually fell in to the canal, to when she was located by co-workers. It could have been anywhere from 5 minutes to maybe 10 minutes," said Oliver.
Workers say this isn't the first time it's happened. "We've seen them go in the ditch before, but not, not a casualty," said Brad Davis, another supervisor for Big Lake Planting.
Now all workers can do, is try and prevent another such tragedy from taking place. "We go through driver safety meetings, it's all we can do," said Davis.
