Hole opens in Guatemala neighborhood, 3 missing
Fri Feb 23, 2007 4:56pm ET


GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Three people were missing on Friday after a 200-foot-deep hole opened up in the middle of a Guatemalan neighborhood, likely due to a burst sewer pipe.
"It sounded like a bomb was dropping. Boom!" said Carlos Gutierrez, 58, of the crater, which measured 130 feet in diameter.

The crater appeared in the capital's San Antonio neighborhood on Thursday night. Authorities evacuated hundreds of people on Friday fearing more land could collapse into a fast-flowing river of sewage below.

The missing people had lived in a house that fell into the hole. Two bodies showed up about a mile downstream.

Neighbors said the ground had been shaking for weeks after a huge sewer pipe burst, making the ground underneath the houses unstable.

© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved

It is unbelievable that any disaster such as this can happen without an earthquake. Possibly, this concern can be addressed to the effect that no occurrence of this type may happen again.

Thankfully, nothing of that nature has happened here in the continental United States. How is it possible to happen within a United States territory is unthinkable? Let us hope that better planning is considered as a result. Let me know what you think