An entire van was swallowed up by a sinkhole that opened after heavy rainfall in New York City on Monday. Footage of the jaw-dropping moment was recorded by CBS2 cameras and shared online, where it quickly spread to millions.
The viral video shows how the ground beneath a parked white van gave way. The van then plunged into the sinkhole that formed in a neighbourhood in Bronx. Onlookers yelled in alarm as the sinkhole swallowed the full-sized van, the footage shows.
And the finale @CBSNewYork pic.twitter.com/PuOy5q5JoD— Ali Bauman (@AliBaumanTV) July 19, 2022
While the van falling into the sinkhole alarmed many, its owner Tony Papadodoulos took a more zen approach to the whole thing. Papadodoulos assured CBS2 that he was happy about the incident.
"I'm alright. I'm alright. Lose the van. Lose the van. It's life," he said. "Because I lost my van. I don't want to be sad or mad or this ... I want to be happy."
Nobody was injured in the incident, but residents of the area are worried about water supply disruptions and the long process of repairing a road. Neighbours say it’s the second time in a year that a sinkhole has opened in the area.
"It happened August 15 and it took them three months for them to fix the work and we didn't have water. Now, we're gonna have no water, of course," Joey Saadah told CBS2.
The Department of Environmental Protection is investigating whether there is any connection between this sinkhole and the one that opened last year.
