An 80-year-old man who went to retrieve the morning papers on his lawn sank into an 8-foot hole on New York’s Long Island.
Michael Ciron’s screams on Sunday morning soon woke up his daughter, who summoned police and firefighters to the Oceanside home.
According to Newsday, by the time rescuers arrived, Ciron managed to pull himself up so that his head cleared above ground.
The fire department secured webbing around his torso and then pulled him out.
Ciron speculated that the sinkhole may have been the site of an old well or cesspool that opened up after Saturday’s wet, snowy weather.
Ciron joked that throughout the ordeal, “I held on to the papers.”
Copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Amazon Seen as Shielded from Liability for Miami Cargo Plane Crash
Microsoft Joins AI Firms Calling for Caution With Cutting-Edge Models
OpenAI Says It’s Working With Anthropic, Google on AI Safety
Warren Presses Insurance Watchdogs for Answers Amid Walter Probe