Florida Man Sucked into Sinkhole in Bedroom
By: NBC News
Updated: March 1, 2013
Police tape is the only outward sign of the chaos that began with a horrific crash and loud screams overnight inside a Seffner, Florida home.
"I heard someone screaming, my brother screaming and I ran in there and all I saw was the top of his bed," said Jeremy Bush.
A huge sink-hole had swallowed his brother's bedroom.
"I jumped in the hole and tried to get him out... and I couldn't get him... and I thought I could hear him screaming for me and hollering for me to help him," Bush said. "I couldn't do nothing
First responders pulled Jeremy Bush from the hole then began their search for his 36-year-old brother Jeffery.
"We placed some rescue equipment and listening devices designed to hear the sound a mouse would make walking on floor. They did not detect signs of life. They inserted cameras," said Hillsborough County Fire Chief Ron Rogers.
They were forced to suspend their work as the massive crater, already 30 feet wide and 50 feet deep, continued to grow.
"There continued to be collapses of the earth below the floor, so they had to back out of the house," Rogers said.
Neighbors have been evacuated and crews are working to determine just how much ground the sinkhole might swallow.
Responders are being held back, helpless in an effort that has already shifted from rescue to what authorities are now calling a recovery.
