Car swallowed by sinkhole caused by water main break in Boston
BOSTON (AP) — A break in a 20-inch (51-centimeter) water main in Boston early Monday sent water rushing down a city street, formed a sinkhole that swallowed a vehicle, and flooded area basements, city officials said.
The burst pipe in the city’s South End was reported at about 3:30 a.m., according to the Boston Water and Sewer Commission. The water main is about 150 years old, but was updated in the 1970s, the commission said.
The flood also buckled the roadway, which was closed to traffic.
“It was a significant amount of water over a short period of time,” commission spokesperson Dolores Randolph said. Service to area buildings was not affected and no one was hurt.
The vehicle, seen in television video tilting into the sinkhole, was removed later in the morning.
Sarah Donner heard the pre-dawn commotion outside and looked out to see her vehicle in the sinkhole.
“I saw the hole, and I was like, ‘Wait, wait, wait. My car is over there,’” she told WCVB-TV. “It was just kind of a gradual pre-coffee awareness that my car was in a sinkhole.”
The water was shut off and construction crews responded to the area to fix the roadway.
Related News
From Archive
- NTSB publishes preliminary report on fatal gas pipeline explosion in Lexington, Mo.
- 290-mile gas pipeline expansion proposed across Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina
- Ripple Fiber breaks ground on $140 million project, expanding into central Mass.
- City of Albuquerque halts fiber optic construction in response to damage, complaints
- Body retrieved day after fatal trench collapse at Bakersfield, Calif., job site
- Gehl and Mustang offer world’s largest skid loader
- Growing Pains and Gains
- Maryland lawmakers push to curb BGE pipeline spending, citing safety and cost concerns
- Authorities investigating trench collapse that killed worker in Ashburn, Va.
- City of Albuquerque halts fiber optic construction in response to damage, complaints
Comments