Wednesday afternoon the unthinkable happened to a local construction worker. While laying a sewer line for the new KTH plant in Leesburg, John Hunter was caught in a cave-in for nearly 35 minutes.

According to several people on the scene, Hunter was buried alone in a cave-in. When rescue workers began to dig him out, two of them were captured in a second cave-in. More members of Cherokee County's Rescue Squad then rescued all three men. All three men were taken to the hospital and rescue worker Brian Smith is said to have broken his leg in the accident. Hunter was in shock when he left the scene via ambulance and no word has yet been released on his condition.

The trench for the sewer line was being dug by Hokes Bluff Construction Company, owned by Vester Hill. According to Hill, who was not present when the cave-in occurred, the men were not using their trench box, which could have prevented the accident.

At present, the sewer line has been back-filled for safety until construction can continue