GUATEMALA CITY 330-foot-deep

A 330-foot-deep sinkhole

Guatemala City, Guatemala - killed at least two teenagers as it swallowed about a dozen homes on 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 calamity occured on 23 Feb 2007
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.

Police evacuated nearby homes and cordoned off a 500-yard perimeter around the crater. Security officials were on guard for possible looters and curious onlookers.

“We have closed the valves on the storm and sewer drains and we are going to wait until the area stabilizes before going down there to evaluate, but in the meantime, the mouth of the hole will certainly become larger,” Alvaro Rodas, the director of social development for Guatemala City, said on Friday.

Guatemala military might use explosion to open clogged sewer main

Felt the earth shaking’
Maria Rivas said she was in her home when the sinkhole opened.

“I started to hear booming and I felt the earth shaking, and then I realized that the homes had collapsed” into the sinkhole, she said.

Security officials guarded the site from possible looters and to clear the area of onlookers.

Cristobal Colon, a spokesman for the municipal water authority, said the sewage main ruptured after becoming clogged. He said the city was aware of the blockage and the army had been considering a controlled explosion to clear the pipe, which carries both rainwater and sewage for much of the capital.

Antonio Fuentes, 50, said he plans to abandon the run-down neighborhood he has called home for 15 years.

“Last night, a friend had to take my handicapped wife out on motorcycle,” he said. “Now I’m leaving for good, never to come back.”

 Source-http://www.msnbc.msn.com