Man, grandson dead after truck flips over in canal

PLAQUEMINE — Investigators believe a heavy downpour and rough winds Wednesday night caused a pickup to plunge into a canal, killing the driver and his young grandson, the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office reported Thursday.

Sheriff’s Maj. Johnny Blanchard said deputies called to Kurt Creek Lane, just outside of Plaquemine, around 11:40 p.m. found Charles Werchan, 67, 66300 Kurt Creek Lane, and Brennan Newman, 4, dead inside Werchan’s truck.

The truck was overturned in a canal beside the road, he said.

Blanchard said Werchan was trying to cross a canal alongside of an unpaved road when the man’s pickup slid off the path and flipped over into the canal.

Werchan was driving his grandson home to Addis when the accident occurred, Blanchard said.

Blanchard said the boy’s father, who walked to the scene of the accident, jumped into the canal and tried to revive his son, but was unsuccessful.