Guatemala sinkhole swallows several homes

A giant sinkhole swallowed several homes and at least one truck early today in Guatemala City.

Officials said at least three people had been reported missing.

Hugo Sanchez, Guatemala’s national disaster co-ordinator, said emergency officials couldn’t attempt to rescue anyone overnight because the 300ft-deep hole was very unstable.

Loud noises and the smell of sewer rose from the hole, and the earth around it shook.

“I was in my house, and I started to hear booming and I felt the earth shaking, and then I realised that homes had collapsed into the sinkhole,” said neighbour Maria Rivas.

After the sinkhole appeared before dawn, police using megaphones urged residents to stay in their homes. But later, they evacuated 1,000 houses and moved the residents to temporary shelters set up in schools and a police building.

The director of Guatemala’s Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology Institute, Eddie Sanchez, said the sinkhole was likely caused by a leaky sewer main and recent rains.