SMITHTOWN, N.Y. — A teenage worker taking out the garbage at a doughnut shop on Sunday night fell into a sewage pit and died, police said.
Amiri Zeqiri, 17, slipped into an open cesspool behind a Dunkin’ Donuts in Smithtown, about 40 miles east of New York City, police said. There usually was a manhole cover over the cesspool, a hole in the ground that collects waste from toilets and sinks, they said.
The teen’s younger cousin was inside the doughnut shop, realized something was wrong when he didn’t return and went to look for him.
The cousin found the teen in about 8 feet of water and ran to a nearby store for help, but when he returned the teen was no longer visible, police said.
Officers from the Suffolk County Police Department’s Emergency Services Section pulled the teen from the cesspool and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Full story: Teen dies after falling into open cesspool outside of Long Island Dunkin’ Donuts