A third man has died from the injuries he suffered in the TECO Big Bend Power Plant accident last week.

  • Third man dies from TECO power plant industrial accident last week
  • Antonio Navarrete, 21, died nearly a week after accident

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Antonio Navarrete, 21, died on Wednesday. He was a contractor who worked for BRACE Industrial Group.

Navarrete's family wants him to be remembered for his caring heart and love of cars.

"Everyone that knew him loved him. He always had a nice personality, always dancing," Navarrete's cousin Alicia Perez said.

Alicia Perez has nothing but good memories of growing up with her cousin Antonio. 

"It's really hard, it was like I didn’t want to believe it. It was kind of like my heart dropped. I didn’t accept it and I still haven’t really accepted it," Perez said.

Navarrete was one of the six workers involved in the accident at TECO Big Bend Power plant. 

Officials said molten hot slag rushed out of a coal stack, spewing onto the victims.

Two of the men in that accident died immediately.

Antonio died nearly a week later, shortly before he was to become a father for the first time.

"Even though he's not mentally here, he's always going to be here no matter what, and my family is always going to be involved with that child like he's one of our own," Perez said.

Three other people remain in the hospital from the accident.