Two Men Dead After Car Goes Into Canal
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LAUDERDALE LAKES (CBSMiami) – Two adult males are dead after a pickup truck they were traveling in went into a canal in Lauderdale Lakes late Saturday night.
Authorities responded to the scene just before 10 p.m.
The driver has been identified as 47-year-old Fariles Jean-Louis and the passenger as his brother-in-law 55-year-old Herold Ductan.
The men were half a mile away from home driving in a 1997 Ford Ranger when the vehicle plunged into a canal on the four-thousand block of NW 33rd Avenue.
"I am sadness now because I am losing my brother," said Ductan's brother Antonio Dilus.
The two men were transported to a nearby hospital where they were pronounced dead.
"I'm sad but I'm trying to stay strong," said Fariles Jean-Louis' son, Roche.
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Madelene Jean-Louis says her husband of 16 years worked hard to bring their kids to the US for a better life.
"He did everything he could to get here and the kids. He was a very hard-working man," said Madelene Jean-Louis through a translator.
Ductan leaves behind nine children in Haiti.
Family, friends and church members gathered at the home where the two men lived. The two served as deacons at Conservatrice Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale and are described as hard-working.
According to family, Jean-Louis was one of the founders of Conservatrice Baptist Church back in the 90s.
"They're very active members, guys you just can't replace somebody like that. They hold a lot of weight when it comes down to the ministry," said Kenvy Cheveulon.
The Broward Sheriff's Office is examining the scene at 4060 NW 33rd Avenue to try and determine how the car ended up under water. BSO Divers were able to recover the vehicle.
