"Terrifying sinkhole incident in Witham as car's wheel disappears into the depths. Miraculous escape for driver and passengers. Road secured for repairs."
A driver was “shaken and shocked” when a sinkhole appeared beneath her car, sucking up the front wheel.
The road surface on Newland Road in Witham, Essex, is said to have started to give way late Saturday afternoon.
Jessica Augustin and her three children were traveling when their Alfa Romeo “just plunged into this deep hole.”
Everyone got out safely, she added, and the car was pulled out of the hole, which was around a metre wide (3ft) and a comparable depth.
“It was very frightening – the road just opened up beneath us,” Ms Augustin recalled.
A large throng came to view the automobile in the hole.
She was driving with her three teenage daughters, and with one tire stuck in the hole and the two passenger-side wheels “in the air a bit,” they all had to get out.
“Everyone was fine – shaken and shocked – but I couldn’t help but wonder, ‘What if a motorcycle or something had gone over it?'”
“Thankfully, someone knew a local breakdown guy, and he towed the car out,” she explained.
SOURCE OF IMAGE,Image credit: IAN PUCKEY/BBC
On Saturday, the hole became visible.
Ms Augustin was able to drive it home, although there were some scuffs on the car and her husband had to cable-tie one of the bumpers back on.
She has contacted her insurance company.
Nicole Porter was one of several persons who witnessed the event and posted images and comments on the Witham Talk Group on Facebook.
She told the BBC that she and her boss had just finished closing their store when they noticed the automobile in the hole.
“Some men said, ‘Let’s lift it out,’ but others said, ‘You can’t, it’s a sinkhole and it might collapse.'”
Around the pit, barriers have been placed.
After the automobile was removed, barricades were put around the hole to allow for repairs.
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