Cesspool Tragedy Could Have Been Worse, Second Worker Barely Escaped With His Life

HUNTINGTON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A day after a cesspool caved in, killing a worker on Long Island -- we're finding out that a second worker also had a close call.

He amazingly leaped out of harm's way as the ground was collapsing.

"It's a little community, even though it's big and everyone came and helped out," Dane Kouttron told CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff.

Kouttron was emotional, the day after a routine home improvement went tragically wrong.

"It's sad that a man goes to work and loses his life, and on my property, and I'm very upset about that," he said.

They were adding a cesspool when --without warning -- the front lawn caved in, creating a giant sink hole that sucked in a worker.

Rescue crews descended on the Beech Place home with hope, but five hours of vacuuming the muck unearthed the body of Edward Sinnott. The 59-year-old worker was survived by his wife and son.

"It's a terrible thing, but the fact that he died doing what he loved, it's okay," his son Michael said.

It was nearly a double tragedy. The company owner was also sucked in, but amazingly grabbed onto the crane's bucket as the earth caved in. The dramatic cell phone video shot by Kouttrone's son was shared with police to help locate the missing worker.

"Somehow he was lucky. He survived, and it wasn't two fatalities," Kouttrone said.

Afterwards, Antorino and Sons stayed all night to finish the job. The same company was cited for OSHA violations in 2009 for a similar, but non-fatal incident.

The Huntington fire commissioner had nothing but praise for the company.

"Those are the guys, there is no better than that. It's dangerous, but you couldn't ask for a better team," Andre Sorrentino Jr said.

Because the home is at the bottom of a hill, the underground drainage pipes end just where the ground gave way. It's not clear if that contributed to the accident.

Kouttrone said he complained about the town's catch basin seeping into his cesspools.

"All this so we can go to the bathroom, because the town doesn't have sewers up here," he said.

Town of Huntington officials said the catch basin -- inspected on Thursday -- is operating properly.

OSHA is investigating to see if any safety regulations were violated, but would not comment on specifics of the investigation or how long it may take.