3 people fall into sinkhole at Long Island home
HUNTINGTON STATION, N.Y. - It was a wild morning for a family on Long Island.
Three people were rescued from a hole in a front yard, and now they're trying to figure out what caused the ground to open up.
The property has been taped off.
The hole is right near the walkway to the house. In daylight, it's easy to see, but you can imagine when it was dark how it was easy to miss.
A typical morning for Luz Bedoya took a terrifying turn as the 71-year-old was leaving home for work around 6 a.m.
On home surveillance video, you can see her on camera disappear. She fell into the hole, which Suffolk County Police say is about six feet wide by six feet deep.
"She thought the ground was going to eat her, you know? Sink in through the ground. So that was a scary moment for her," said homeowner Benjamin Orengo.
Orengo lives there with his wife and friends, including Bedoya. He translated for her as she described what happened.
"She was screaming, asking for help. She knew nobody was going to answer. It was dark," he said, translating for her. "She realized she had her phone in her hand."
She called her friends and family from the hole. Two rushed out of the home to help, but also toppled in.
"They were scared that the hole keep on sinking, so they grab each other," Orengo said.
Liliana Garcia rushed to the home after getting the call from her mom.
"When I arrive, all the police, all the ambulance was here. So I was scared, because I saw many people around. I thought the worst, you know?" Garcia said.
Police say one officer reached in and pulled one person out. The others climbed a ladder.
All were treated at Huntington Hospital and are now back home, including Orengo's wife, who fell in trying to rescue her friend.
"She feels pain, nervous, but she's happy that - glad that she's OK, and everybody's OK," Orengo said.
The Town of Huntington did an inspection and found no violations.
A spokesperson said it could be related to irrigation lines at the home and heavy rain, but that remains to be seen.
We're told that since this is private property, and not town property, it will be up to the homeowner to determine the cause and get it fixed.
