Chicago Sinkhole: Swallows 3 Cars, 1 Person Hospitalized

Two cars were swallowed and a person injured as firefighters responded to a sinkhole that formed at 5:30 a.m. CST in the South Deering neighborhood of Chicago at 9600 South Houston Ave.

Chicago Times, quoting the Chicago Water Department spokesperson Tom LaPorte, reported that the 20 foot sinkhole was created after the water main broke because of heavy rains overnight that weakened the cast iron pipe built in 1915. The sinkhole continued to expand to 40 feet as firefighters arrived, causing another car to fall into the hole. A fourth vehicle was towed from the edge before it fell in.

The injured man is listed in severe-to-critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and was trying to drive around the hole when the road collapsed under his car. The Water Department is investigating the incident, but neighborhood residents are understandably upset. Ola Oni, whose car fell into the sinkhole, expressed her concerns saying, "In this kind of neighborhood, I don't think this should happen ... this neighborhood is in danger."

The Chicago Tribune reports that 5 inches of rain have shut down the local Edens, Eisenhower and Kennedy expressways.