One person was hospitalized Thursday morning after a sinkhole swallowed three cars in the South Deering neighborhood on the Southeast Side of the Midwestern US city of Chicago.
The person was taken from the hole to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in serious-to-critical condition, according to the Chicago Fire Department.
Witnesses said that the hole expanded from about 20 feet to about 40 feet in diameter. Initally two vehicles along portions of the street were consumed as the hole expanded.
The man who was injured was trying to drive his vehicle around the hole when it gave out under him and both he and his vehicle fell in, according to witnesses.
The man sustained minor head injuries and was taken to a local hospital, officials said.
A fourth vehicle was towed from the edge of the hole as it was about to fall inside, witnesses said.
A Nigerian, Ola Oni said she was about to leave for work at 5 a.m. this morning, when she saw her vehicle suddenly fell in to the hole. She feels lucky that she avoided injury.
“It could have happened to me, I am (in) luck, I’m happy,” said Oni. “In this kind of neighborhood I don’t think this should happen.”
She gestured to the hole where several vehicles were still inside.
“Look at this, this neighborhood is in danger,” said Oni.
The sinkhole is the result of a water main that broke in the area and his gushing water, said Tom LaPorte, a spokesman for the Water Department.
He believes that it is likely drinking water and not sewage.
The weather and the intense rain could have aggravated a water main made from cast iron that takes back to 1915, he said. Officials aren’t certain of the cause some of the factors being looked at is the age of the main and weather conditions.
Chicago Police Department spokesman Michael Sullivan said the person was upgraded to good condition with minor injuries.
The fire department responded to the scene around 5:30 a.m. when two cars were inside the hole. The third one, belonging to Oni, slide into it after crews arrived.
Sullivan said the street is closed to traffic along the street near the hole.