Well Driller Dies in Sinkhole Accident in N. Fla.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TRENTON, Fla. — An autopsy is scheduled for a well driller who died after a sinkhole opened beneath him and his truck fell on top of him. The body of 52-year-old Johnn Clyde Smith of Smith Well Drilling in O’Brien was pulled from the sinkhole early Sunday. An autopsy will be performed in Gainesville. According to the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office, Smith was working Saturday near the Lancaster Correctional Institution in Trenton. Smith’s partner discovered the accident scene late Saturday. A sheriff’s office spokesman tells The Gainesville Sun that Smith’s relatives helped emergency crews pull the truck and its drilling rig from the 35-foot-wide sinkhole. Maj. Tony Smith says the well driller had some pipe in the ground when the sinkhole opened beneath him. The body was found under about five feet of dirt.