Three people have been treated for injuries after a car fell into a sinkhole near Burlington in Kane County, Illinois, at about 4.00 am local time on Tuesday 1 July 2014. A 41-year-old woman and her 15-year-old son who were in the Ford Taurus were taken to hospital with minor injuries, while the driver of a second vehicle, described as a pickup truck, was treated for minor injuries at the site of the incident after driving over the top of the first vehicle in the dark.
The Ford Taurus in the Kane County sinkhole on Tuesday 1 July 2014. Radioman 911.
The sinkhole was about 3 m wide and deep enough to swallow the car completely. It cut completely across the two lane road, and appeared to be caused by floodwater from a storm in the area, which breached a culvert running beneath the road and washed away surrounding sediments, undermining the road surface.
The Kane County sinkhole after the removal of the vehicle, showing the culver beneath the road. Kane County Chronicle.
Sinkholes are generally caused by water eroding soft limestone or unconsolidated deposits from beneath, causing a hole that works its way upwards and eventually opening spectacularly at the surface. Where there are unconsolidated deposits at the surface they can infill from the sides, apparently swallowing objects at the surface, including people, without trace.
The approximate location of the Kane County sinkhole. Google Maps.
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