The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after an employee with the county drainage district was killed in a workplace accident, according to Sheriff Eddie Guerra.

One other person was hospitalized in the accident, according to a news release from the county.

The unidentified employee was killed Tuesday morning when employees with the Hidalgo County Drainage District No. 1 were working along a drainage canal near Donna north of Mile 4 North on Midway Road when the operator of a backhoe “lost control and caused the death of a co-worker,” Guerra stated in a social media post. 

The backhoe that was being used for the operation shifted and fell down an embankment, causing the death of one worker and injuring the second.

The two men were working along a levee area as part of preparations for hurricane season, Hidalgo County Drainage District No. 1 General Manager Raul Sesin stated in a news release.