A PARTICULARLY HORRIBLE WAY TO DROWN

From: New York attorney Gary E. Rosenberg (personal injury and accident attorney and lawyer; serving Brooklyn Queens Bronx; Queens accident attorney)

Amiri Zeqiri, age 17, was taking out the garbage behind a Dunkin Donuts in Smithtown, New York, on Sunday night, February 28, 2010 when he fell in an open cesspool and died as a result of the accident.

Usually there was a cover over the cesspool, which is an in-ground sewer pit that collects waste from toilets and sinks.

Zeqiri's younger cousin, who also worked at the donut shop, went looking for him when he didn't return from throwing out the trash. The cousin saw the victim in sewage water and ran for help. By the time he got back to the cesspool Zeqiri, who lived in Central Islip, had slipped below the surface.

Suffolk County police officers pulled the dead teen from the cesspool and took him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Authorities are investigating why the cover was left off the cesspool.

There was no immediate statement from Dunkin' Donuts.

Comment: There have been several cesspool drownings in Long Island over the years. Most New York City neighborhoods have connections to a central sewer system-so no cesspools.