Sinkhole swallows up Florida man and his house

Published on 01/03/2013 15:04

A FLORIDA man was left screaming for help as a sinkhole engulfed the bedroom of his home.

The man’s brother heard a loud crash at around midnight, followed by his brother’s screams.

“When he got there, there was no bedroom left,” Hillsborough County Fire Rescue spokeswoman Jessica Damico said. “There was no furniture. All he saw was a piece of the mattress sticking up.”

The hole is estimated to be around 30 feet (nine metres) across.

The brother called police and tried to help, before police removed from the brother from the still-collapsing house. The man who fell down the hole is yet to be recovered.

There’s been no contact with the man since then, and neighbours on both sides of the home have been evacuated.

Damico said: “We put engineering equipment into the sinkhole and didn’t see anything compatible with life.

“The entire house is on the sinkhole.”