Pennsylvania Sinkhole Swallows Car: Hole Is Three Times The Width Of Car

A Pennsylvania sinkhole swallows a car in Ross Township, Pennsylvania, as footage shows on local news channels. The sinkhole, that opened up Tuesday afternoon occurred at the front of a tanning salon. A woman backing out of her parking spot when suddenly half of her car went right into the hole, rear first.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 49-year-old Natalie Huddleston managed to get out of her Saturn SC2 on McKnight Road in front of Hollywood Tans. She waited momentarily for a brief spell of rain to pass before backing up; other than that, nothing was out of the ordinary. Next thing she knew, she was in the sinkhole with the car, and her door wouldn’t open. The salon’s owner ran outside, put her hand inside the vehicle and helped Huddleston out.

“Then we watched the car sink, little by little,” says Huddleston.

Eventually the car was submerged, but was pulled out Tuesday. There were reports that a smell of gas was present and neighboring business near the tanning salon had to be evacuated.

Huddleston is reportedly in good condition after visiting an area hospital.

Speaking with KDKA, Huddleston shares:

“I got in the car, I backed up, I felt a thunk, and all of a sudden I was tilted and I felt movement, I was swaying, I kept drifting back and realized I was stuck in this hole.”

She continues:

“I’m in shock, this is not happening, my car is gone, I’m stuck here, how am I going to get out of work.”

It’s believed that the Pennsylvania sinkhole was caused by a 48-to-60-inch storm drain runoff pipe collapsed during heavy rains, according to work crews.

Later that day, another sinkhole surfaced when a “small bridge of asphalt and earth between the holes dissolved, creating one, gaping sinkhole that was nearly 40 feet long and 10 feet wide,” according to the Gazette. The sinkhole’s depth wasn’t immediately determined because it was full of water. No one was injured in the sinkhole.

As The Inquisitr has previously reported multiple times, sinkholes emerge all over the country and are happening more often. The large hole at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is a now a huge attraction. Business has increased considerably since the sinkhole opened up in February. Fortunately, no one was hurt when the sinkhole happened out of nowhere. It did swallow eight cars, however.

[Image via MSN]