Texas sheriff says 3 hog hunters from Florida died in an underground tank after their dog fell in

By PAUL J. WEBER
Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas sheriff says three hog hunters visiting from Florida died while apparently trying to rescue their dog after it fell into a hole filled with sewer gas in the middle of a cornfield. Bastrop County Sheriff Maurice Cook said Thursday that the bodies of two men and a female, as well as the dog, were pulled from a cistern on the rural outskirts of Austin. He said the chain of events started early Wednesday in the middle of the night with one of the men apparently going in the cistern to rescue the dog, which he described as a bloodhound. Cook said authorities believe the hunters were overcome by hydrogen sulfide gas in the hole and sank to the bottom.