Third body found in Guatemala sinkhole (WOW! pictures)

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | February 25, 2007

[lizol]

Third body found in Guatemala sinkhole

February 25, 2007

GUATEMALA CITY -- Emergency crews Saturday found a third body in a 330-foot-deep sinkhole that had swallowed a dozen homes and forced the evacuation of nearly 1,000 people in a crowded Guatemala City neighborhood.

The body of Domingo Soyos, 53, was carried out of the enormous fissure and identified by family members, medical crews said.

Soyos was the father of teenagers Irma and David Soyos, whose bodies were found floating in a river of sewage soon after the sinkhole opened Friday.

Residents said there were other people unaccounted for, but emergency crews could not confirm that.

Officials blamed recent rains and an underground sewage flow from a ruptured main for the tragedy. The pit emitted foul odors, loud noises and tremors, shaking the surrounding ground. A rush of water could be heard from its depths, and authorities feared it could widen or other sinkholes could open.

Police evacuated nearby homes and cordoned off a 500-yard perimeter around the crater. Security officials were on guard for possible looters and curious onlookers.

[Robert A Cook PE]

It could become a wonderful city water storage “tank” - but the fact that its a sinkhole means water has already constantly washed out the bottom, and so it won’t stay “put” inside the “tank” ...

At least the Winter Park sinkhole (which I drove by before it collapsed when I lived a bit north of there) had a “bottom” they could seal up.

[mainsail that]

30m diameter I read but 100m deep

[Ultra Sonic 007]

A meter is longer than a yard, so 500 meters is longer than 500 yards.

[wardaddy]

damn what a sinkhole

anyone know what Zona this is?

aparece pobre

[razbinn]

PLUG THE DAMN HOLE!!!!!

[Tainan]

One report says ..."Hundimiento en la 21, 22, 23 y 24 avenidas del Barrio San Antonio zona 6. " and then there is this aerial picture...

[FourPeas]

LOL

[Tainan]

A bit of follow-up:

"The disaster took place in Zone 6, Barrio San Antonio. This place is located before entering to the road goes to the Northern part of the country (road that goes to Izabal, Zacapa, Chiquimula)
A giant sinkhole opened before dawn Friday, swallowing several homes and a truck and leaving a father and two teenagers missing in Guatemala City.
Officials said the 100-meter-deep (330-foot-deep) sinkhole in a crowded neighborhood of poor, concrete homes was caused by recent rains and an underground sewage flow from a ruptured main.
National disaster coordinator Hugo Hernandez identified the missing as Domingo, Irma and David Sosyos, ages 53, 18 and 15, respectively. A body appeared in a river of sewage near the sinkhole, but it was unclear whether the corpse was a victim."

[wardaddy]

goodness...i’ve gone that way before

those poor folks haven’t got much anyhow

[MarineBrat]

Somebody needs to have some Viking Kitties come flying out of that thing!

[Tainan]

Yeah...its a bad part of town.
I also got an email last night from a former colleague who is there, it seems that 2 guys tried to kidnap an guy who is an official with Taiwan's embassy in Guatemala. Nothing came of it. He talked and stalled the guys until a passing policia noticed something going on. The cop got them all out of the car, separated them and the Taiwanese guy told him what was happening.
Just a couple of locals looking to make some $$$s with the 'chino.'

[STARWISE]

Utterly shocking and breathtaking !
Lord, protect us.

[penelopesire]

Thanks for the ping. It’s so surreal. The hole is almost perfectly round.

[DTogo]

What happened to all the dirt?

Good question! And what was under it, or not under it, to cause it to sink?

What other areas of the Guatemala have "nothing under them" and could sink in the future?

[Palladin]

Those are some photos!

When I heard the news of the latest collapse, I didn’t picture anything that big.

We have a lot of sinkholes in coal country in PA., but nothing like that!

[Palladin]

So perfectly round it makes you think there may have been a manmade structure there built by an ancient civilization.

A huge central well or something.

Maybe our Freeper historians can enlighten us.

[EDINVA]

Can you imagine being an emergency rescue worker there? They are put in enormous danger in what reads like the grossest of circumstances.

[penelopesire]

That sounds perfectly plausible for sure. It certainly sank into the abyss.

[razbinn]

the local authoroties are still looking into it....

[gibsosa]

hilarious!!