About a hundred tourists including about 30 children had to be rescued after a coach became trapped in a sinkhole that opened up in a road in Lewisham, South London, on Saturday 26 November 2016. The passengers were helped off the vehicle by members of the London Fire Brigade and were provided with food by a local Lidl supermarket before being taken to a temporary shelter.
Coach trapped in a sinkhole in Lewisham, South London, on 26 November 2016. ITV News.
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.
Coach trapped in a sinkhole in Lewisham, South London, on 26 November 2016. ITV News.
On this occasion the sinkhole is believed to have been caused by a burst water main which washed away sediments beneath the road until it collapsed. The incident has been accompanied by flooding of several roads in the area, which has been closed to traffic by the Metropolitan Police.
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