Two men travelling southbound on the Strasburg Road in Kitchener in southeast Ontario, at about 3.20 am local time on Wednesday 10 February 2016, had a close escape when their pickup truck drove into a submerged sinkhole about 2 m in depth. Both men were able to escape from the vehicle, though the truck was almost entirely submerged and had to be removed by a speialist recovery team later that morning after much of the water had been pumped away.
Vehicle trapped in a submerged sinkhole on the Strasburg Road in Kitchener, Ontario, on Wednesday 10 February 2015. Kevin Swayze/The Record.
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.
On this occasion the hole is believed to have been created by a burst water main which washed away soft sediments beneath the road, as well as causing a flood which hid the structural damage to the road. The burst main had been reported to Kitchener Utilities who already had a work team on site at the time of the incident, however this team had been unable to begin work due to traffic on the road, with vehicles fording the flood, and was waiting for Waterloo Regional Police to close the road when the incident occured.
See also...
Three homes evacuated after giant sinkhole appears in South Amboy, New Jersey. Three homes have been evacuated as a precautionary measure after a giant
sinkhole opened up at South Amboy in Middlesex County, New Jersey, on
Tuesday 24 March 2015. Residents were woken at about 6.00 am local time
by noises that sounded like high winds...
Chicago apartment block evacuated after sinkhole opens up. An apartment block in the West Town area of Chicago, Illinois, has been
evacuated after a sinkhole opened up next to it in the early...
Car swallowed by sinkhole in Kane County, Illinois. Three people have been treated for injuries after a car fell into a
sinkhole near Burlington in Kane County, Illinois, at about 4.00...
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