Giant 330-Foot-Deep Sinkhole Swallows Homes

[Bone_Collector 3]

GUATEMALA CITY - Emergency crews on Saturday found a third body in a 330-foot-deep sinkhole that had swallowed a dozen homes and forced the evacuation of nearly 1,000 people in a crowded Guatemala City neighborhood.

The body of Domingo Soyos, 53, was carried out of the enormous fissure and identified by family members, medical crews said.

Soyos was the father of teenagers Irma and David Soyos, whose bodies were found floating in a river of sewage soon after the sinkhole opened on Friday.

Residents said there were other people unaccounted for, but emergency crews could not confirm that.

Officials blamed recent rains and an underground sewage flow from a ruptured main for the tragedy. The pit emitted foul odors, loud noises and tremors, shaking the surrounding ground. A rush of water could be heard from its depths, and authorities feared it could widen or other sinkholes could open up.

Police evacuated nearby homes and cordoned off a 500-yard perimeter around the crater. Security officials were on guard for possible looters and curious onlookers.

“We have closed the valves on the storm and sewer drains and we are going to wait until the area stabilizes before going down there to evaluate, but in the meantime, the mouth of the hole will certainly become larger,” Alvaro Rodas, the director of social development for Guatemala City, said on Friday.

A preventable trajedy?

Edward Ramirez said he and other residents had been hearing noises and feeling tremors for about a month before the ground opened up before dawn, waking many in the poor neighborhood.

“People were shouting ’The electric posts are falling down!”’ said the 26-year-old Ramirez, who lives 50 yards from the hole. “We are going to a friend’s house now. There’s no way we’ll stay here.”

Crews kept passers-by away from the huge sinkhole in Guatemala City.

Authorities had apparently suspected something was wrong with the site before the sinkhole appeared.

“We knew, and the INSIVUMEH (the country’s seismology institute) had placed a seismic meter there,” Rodas said. “The city government had contracted a robotic camera system to go down there, but the disaster occurred first.”

‘Felt the earth shaking’

Maria Rivas said she was in her home when the sinkhole opened.

“I started to hear booming and I felt the earth shaking, and then I realized that the homes had collapsed” into the sinkhole, she said.

Security officials guarded the site from possible looters and to clear the area of onlookers.

Cristobal Colon, a spokesman for the municipal water authority, said the sewage main ruptured after becoming clogged. He said the city was aware of the blockage and the army had been considering a controlled explosion to clear the pipe, which carries both rainwater and sewage for much of the capital.

Antonio Fuentes, 50, said he plans to abandon the run-down neighborhood he has called home for 15 years.

“Last night, a friend had to take my handicapped wife out on motorcycle,” he said. “Now I’m leaving for good, never to come back.”

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Now that hole is HUGE! What a bizarre way to die.

[jesspy 208]

DUde

wow

poor people

thats a scary thought th eground opening up on you like that

[Bone_Collector 3]

Yeah, that's really sad. The ones who just escaped it are really lucky. 330 feet is way too deep to have any chance, and to top that, you land in a drain. That's some serious bad luck and a horrible horrible way to die.

[chemical-licker 1]

WHERES THE CREATURE THAT MADE THE HOLE? WHERE????? WHERE??????

[EmpressStarXVII 7]

Good Lord

[Wookie 0]

WOW thats a Crazy big hole

[Fluffybunny 51]

Oh my god, that is incredible. I have never seen anything like that before...

[Princess Serenity 2,335]

We have a similar thread in the "nature" section. *Shify eyes.*

Man! Now I see different pictures of it. That's BIG. I've never seen such a big hole. That has to be very deep.

[nativechick1989 275]

Whoa ... ... that is huge!

I'd be freaked if I heard noises and felt rumblings underneath me ...

[Lotus Flower 7]

Reminds me of the film "The War of the Worlds" - holes like that appeared there!

[Kryso 40]

Can you imagine walking along chatting with your friend, the next minute that hole opens up and they are gone!

That is one scary hole!

[BurnSide 7]

Wow. That is absolutely incredible! Very unfortunate for those who died and had their homes destroyed by the phenomina.

How the hell are they gonna sort that out? Poor 300 tonnes of cement into the hole?

[distortedpandy 6]

I feel the need to peek in that hole.

[girty1600 0]

When I think sinkhole I picture something a person falls into, perhaps waist-high.

I don't think of this......

[Bone_Collector 3]

How the hell are they gonna sort that out? Poor 300 tonnes of cement into the hole?

300 tonnes of concrete? It's a pretty wide 330 foot deep hole, it's gonna need way too much than that.

They must have some seriously huge drains down there. I guess they just have to blow the crap out of these drains, clear all the clogged water first, seal it up and pour concrete and mud over it. Easier said than done though. I wonder how the city is coping with this? Imagine the idea of the earth collapsing and pulling you down when you're asleep.

I feel the need to peek in that hole.

Funny you should say that. I wouldn't be able to resist that temptation if I was anywhere near it.

Edited March 2, 2007 by Bone_Collector

[Unpro 1]

anybody got a pic of what's at the bottom?

[Saint 1]

why are the sides so smooth?

[MissMelsWell 1,629]

why are the sides so smooth?

I don't know man, I was thinking exactly the same thing. I've seen some pretty big sink holes (WA state, too much rain and too much ground water.)

I could only come to the conclusion that it's so round and smooth because it's so frikin' deep! The forces must have been incredible. The largest sinkhole I've ever see was about 25ft in diameter, and maybe 10ft deep... this sucker in Guatemala must have went down fast and furious, well over 300 ft!.

They're really crazy pictures.

Edited March 2, 2007 by MissMelsWell

[jesspy 208]

is there like a cave under the city and could more holes open up

[coldethyl 2,937]

One word:

Tremors.

[the rebirth 2]

[Alara 0]

One word:

Tremors.

OMG coldethyl, !

But seriously that's one SCARY hole!

Imagine going out to the store, saying goodbye at the door and not really looking where you're stepping cos you've done this a thousand times and *poof*; your last words end up being: "Yeah, yeah, milk and pickles I knooooooooow..."

[punish3ment 0]

The thing that gets me is that residents head noises a month before but still stayed. Wouldn't you try to tell as many people as possible?

[AdNauseamSuiGeneris 0]

The full shadow of the helicopter is visible on just a portion of the circumference of the hole! Even the rotary blades.

That's just scary.

Edited March 5, 2007 by RagePatriot