HACKETTSTOWN � A 3-year-old girl fell two feet into the ground and into several feet of water Monday afternoon when the grassy area of her West Valley View Drive backyard where she was walking gave way and collapsed, police said.

HACKETTSTOWN � A 3-year-old girl fell two feet into the ground and into several feet of water Monday afternoon when the grassy area of her West Valley View Drive backyard where she was walking gave way and collapsed, police said.

The child was rescued and taken to Hackettstown Regional Medical Center, but not before a second female, believed to be in her early 20s, heard the child screaming and went into the hole herself in an attempt to come to the girl�s aid.

Both were rescued minutes later by members of the Hackettstown Fire Department, who secured the area.

�It�s still undetermined if it was a sinkhole or if it�s an old cesspool,� said Hackettstown Police Sgt. Darren Tynan.

Police said the child was accompanied by other adults when the accident occurred.

�There were people outside, in the backyard. She was not unsupervised,� Tynan said.

As of Monday evening, West Valley View Drive remained open to traffic, but authorities were on the scene continuing to investigate.

Tynan said authorities were confident the mishap was not related to a 40-foot-wide sinkhole that opened up on College View Drive, about a mile and a half away, in February as the result of a water main break.

�This is in a whole different area,� Tynan said.