Gateway to the below. Whoa...

[Shoyru_Lover]

http://www.ordena.com/digg/sinkhole.html

By JUAN CARLOS LLORCA, Associated Press Writer

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala - A 330-foot-deep sinkhole killed at least two teenagers as it swallowed about a dozen homes early Friday and forced the evacuation of nearly 1,000 people in a crowded Guatemala City neighborhood. Officials blamed the sinkhole on recent rains and an underground sewage flow from a ruptured main.

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 others could open up.

Rescue operations were on hold until a firefighter, suspended from a cable, could take video and photos above the hole and officials could use the documentation to decide how to proceed.

The dead were identified as Irma and David Soyos, emergency spokesman Juan Carlos Bolanos said. Their bodies were found near the sinkhole, floating in a river of sewage.

Their father, Domingo, was still missing, according to disaster coordinator Hugo Hernandez.

[hikaru_dream]

That looks really freaky.....
Poor guys...

I never thought something like that would happen.......

[Dragonfire]

Holy crap that's a big hole. o___O Must've been an underground river or something that made it collapse.

[ahoteinrun]

They've pulled the father out of the sink hole now. He's sadly deceased as well.

That looks really freaky.....
Poor guys...

I never thought something like that would happen.......

Sink holes are a very common form of erosion. They happen a lot. Generally however they're not to this scale.

[Kitten Medli]

Dude what the PANCAKE.

Poor people. :/

[Sigh]

0.0
holy moley.
if no one had been hurt it would be funny, but 3 people died...
so sad!

[May]

That has to be, by far, the biggest sinkhole I've ever seen. It's too bad that the three people died as a result though. Hopefully it won't cause others, or widen even further.

[Xandra]

Normally, I'd find that unbelievably cool (even while feeling sorry for the people who lost their homes and such to it), but now I just feel immense pity for the remaining family of those three people.

[KAMiNix2]

wow..
i've never even heard of sink holes..do things like this happen often?
it's quite sad

[ahoteinrun]

wow..
i've never even heard of sink holes..do things like this happen often?
it's quite sad

Not to this extent, but they do happen. They're a form of mass errosion. In most cases they happen above underground running water and the land beneath the water creates a hole, the ground above can no longer support whatever it's carrying and a hole forms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinkhole

[Susannahmio]

Man that just blows your mind, how big and prefectly erroded it is! and collapsing all of a sudden!

[ahoteinrun]

Man that just blows your mind, how big and prefectly erroded it is! and collapsing all of a sudden!

It probably took a bit of time to form. Generally this type of erosion doesn't happen over night, but it could be quickened by something (such as the sewer issue in the area).

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070226-sinkhole-photo.html

[theonlysaneone]

Wow, that's really amazing. When I first saw it I thought, "Gee, I wonder where the father is," then I saw Ahote's post. So sad... I feel sorry for the mother.

[Zilary]

That's pretty dangerous.

I guess I'm sorta grateful that sinkholes usually don't get that big.
Hopefully I will never encounter one

[Penguin]

I wanna see the bottom

minus the debree