Construction Worker Falls Off Roof After Being Struck By Lightning, Dies

A construction worker was killed by a lightning strike while he was working on the roof of a Florida home.

The tragic incident occurred Monday at a home in Deltona. Edvin Velasquez Cinto, 24, was working on the roof when the lightning struck him and he fell into a concrete foundation pad.

"Someone has fallen from the roof and I think he's unconscious," one witness told the 911 operator, reported WKMG. "They're saying he was struck by lightning. They're saying he's not breathing, but he has a pulse, I guess," another worker said.

A coworker saw the man "get struck by lightning, then observed him fall through an opening in the roof, through wooden trusses, and onto the concrete foundation pad," the Volusia County Sheriff's Office noted, according to WESH.

Cinto was transported to a hospital after suffering serious injuries, but he was pronounced dead there, the sheriff's office said in a Facebook statement.

Cinto reportedly smelled like burned hair, had singe marks on his shoes and one of his socks was melted to his foot. The coworkers confirmed it was not raining at the time of the incident, reported New York Post.

Though information gathered from the scene is "consistent with a lightning strike," an autopsy will be performed to determine the exact cause of death. "An official cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner. The Sheriff's Office sends its condolences to all family, friends and coworkers," the statement read.

His family told Click Orlando that he had been working in the construction sector for about four years and was very dedicated to his job.

"He was a fine guy, dedicated to his job and just a good boy," Cinto's cousin, Cesario, said, while urging people to not work in such dangerous jobs during lightning. "Everyone should stop working because it's dangerous to work when it's lightning."

This is the fourth lightning fatality in the U.S. and the second in Florida this year. The first incident took place in Chester, Pennsylvania, on April 15, while another fatality occurred a day later in Brevard County, Florida.

"Florida is the deadliest state for lightning in the U.S., now with 85 lightning deaths since 2006," said John Jensenius, a lightning safety specialist for the National Lightning Safety Council. "Working on a roof is one of the deadliest work-related activities with respect to lightning."

At least 20 roof-related lightning deaths have taken place in the U.S. since 2006 and a majority of them happened in Florida, Jensenius explained.