'The car just sunk to the ground': Sinkhole opens on Newcastle street
A parked car has been sucked into a giant sinkhole that opened up on a Newcastle street.
Authorities say the Wickham sinkhole was caused by a burst water main, and it is lucky no one was injured.
“What happened today is incredibly rare, certainly a break at the base of a pipe that had created essentially a digging effect,” Hunter Water spokesperson Jeremy Bath said.
The force of the water burst caused the soil under the road to wash away, leaving resident Simon West’s Toyota Prius with nowhere to go.
“I heard the crunch and then (the car) had already dropped and then slowly went into the ground,” Mr West said.
“It was actually quite shallow when it happened … now it is actually quite deep.
“The car just sunk to the ground.
“From what I have heard, it’s about an 80-year-old system … it’s not going to stop me parking on the street.”
The near disaster left residents surrounding Albert Street without water from 6am, as emergency crews arrived at the scene.
Workers were able to remove the car before starting to patch the gaping hole in the road.
Mr Bath told Seven News the area was made safe.
“Unfortunately the position of the break within the pipe was at the very base which had the effect of pushing the water down rather than up,” Mr Bath said.
“In terms of a repair, it’s a fairly standard job.
“What made it complicated was the fact that we had a car in the hole.”
Engineers have inspected the site and say there is no further risk of the earth moving, given the water main has been replaced.
By lunchtime on Thursday, the hole was filled and patched, and water was returned to the neighbouring properties.