ATLANTA — Rescue crews found the body of a water treatment plant employee who fell in a sewage canal Saturday afternoon, officials said.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed made the announcement at the R.M. Clayton Treatment Facility, where the body of Watershed Department Management employee Larry Bradley was found around 12:30 p.m.
"I extend my heartfelt sympathy to his entire family, friends and co-workers. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this time," Reed said.
Crews removed Bradley's body on Saturday, which was in the canal for more than 27 hours.
Workers had been searching for Bradley since Friday morning, when officials said he fell into a basin at the facility and drowned. Watershed commissioner Rob Hunter said that he didn't know how to swim.
WSB-TV Kasim Reed Drowning "I extend my heartfelt sympathy to his entire family, friends and co-workers. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this time," said Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed. Mayor Kasim Reed
Channel 2 Action News reporter George Howell was at the scene as crews worked to extract Bradley's body. Private pumping companies built a dike system to ease access, but the extraction took several hours to complete.
Bradley was taking samples at the plant off Bolton Road when he fell in around 8:30 a.m. on Friday, said Janet Ward of Atlanta Watershed Management.
Hunter said no one saw the employee fall into the channel of sewage that leads from one treatment tank to another, but his abandoned car and sampling equipment left at the scene pointed to the worst case scenario.
RAW VIDEO: Mayor Says City Suffers Familial Loss
Family and friends of the employee gathered outside the gate of the treatment plant as firefighters in hazmat suits searched the murky water on Saturday morning. Crews were eventually located Bradley's body using camera equipment, according to the mayor.
Reed said many tears were shed when he personally sent his condolences to family members before they left the scene.
"We feel that the city has suffered a loss and that in our own way Mr. Bradley is a part of our family," he said.
The City of Atlanta will be conducting a thorough investigation into the accident.
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