Europe News

Giant pothole opens under German street, takes car (correction)

Nov 1, 2010, 18:57 GMT

An aerial view of a pothole that has left a huge crater in the middle of a residential area in Schmalkalden, Germany, on 01 November 2010. EPA/STEFAN THOMAS

   Suhl, Germany - A giant pothole suddenly opened under a residential street in Germany early Monday, taking a car with it and leaving another car perilously parked on the edge.

   Neat private homes standing on both sides of the street remained standing round the oval, 40- by 30-metre slump in the town of Schmalkalden, 120 kilometres north-east of Frankfurt.

   The hole appeared to be up to 20 metres deep. Lutz Katzschmann of the state of Thuringia geology service said a cavity must have formed over many years in the underlying rock after a salt column, calcium sulphate or limestone had dissolved.

   A state mines official said authorities would fill the hole with soil to prevent the edges from crumbling and the houses falling in. The owner of the car on the edge said police advised him to regard it as lost and to put in an insurance claim for it.

   A resident phoned police at about 3 am after hearing a loud noise of tumbling rock. Residents were ordered to leave nine buildings. Nobody was injured.