Firefighter hospitalized after underground rescue attempt

KEY LARGO, Fla. – A firefighter who tried to rescue three road workers trapped underground remains hospitalized in Miami.

Key Largo Volunteer Fire Department Chief Don Bock told The Miami Herald (http://hrld.us/2jGfrfS ) there was no update on Leonardo Moreno's condition Tuesday.

Officials say Moreno was among several people who tried to help a man who collapsed Monday inside a drainage hole in Key Largo. Three workers for a Monroe County contractor died at the scene. Moreno was flown to a Miami hospital in critical condition.

Sheriff Rick Ramsay told reporters the firefighter had thought the hole was too small for his breathing apparatus.

Ramsay said authorities believe the men inside the hole inhaled a poisonous mixture of methane gas and hydrogen sulfide. He also said drainage holes typically are designed to vent gases, but this one wasn't vented.