Mexico

Diver Dies in SD After Retrieving Wreckage in Imperial Canal

An Imperial Irrigation District worker died while trying to recover a body and car from the Ash Canal in Holtville last week.

Jonathan Burnworth was found unresponsive in the canal on October 26, according to the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA).

Holtville is about 40 miles north of Mexicali, Mexico.

Burnworth, 32, was in the process of attaching hooks and cables to retrieve a car that crashed into the Ash Canal, the agency said.

Other divers found him underwater and brought him to the surface.

CPR was performed, which brought back Burnworth’s pulse, said Cal/OSHA.

He was taken to the El Centro Emergency Department and then transferred to UC San Diego Medical Center, Cal/OSHA said.

He was taken off life support and died at the hospital Monday.

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