Rome confronts mystery sinkholes: Two cars swallowed in Quadraro district
A massive sinkhole formed overnight from Wednesday to Thursday in Rome. A hole with a diameter of approximately 10 metres swallowed two parked cars. This marks another instance within just two days where the ground has collapsed in the Eternal City.
The sinkhole appeared in the Quadraro district in southeastern Rome. The hole, which is about 10 metres in diameter and twice as deep, formed where cars were parked. Two of them fell into the pit, and a third was left hanging by a wheel over the abyss.
This is already the second sinkhole that has appeared within just two days in the capital of Italy. Residents fear that there may be more such instances, especially since it's unclear why the ground is collapsing.
Fortunately, the parked cars were empty, and no one was harmed in the incident.
Emergency services quickly arrived at the site and extracted the cars with a crane. The sinkhole was fenced off, but unfortunately, this caused a problem for the local residents. Firefighters on the scene discovered structural damage to a residential building nearby, necessitating the evacuation of the inhabitants of 36 apartments.
Underground corridors pose a collapse threat
An expert stated that residential buildings were constructed in these areas even though studies had long confirmed the risk of sinkholes forming. There is even a school nearby.
- For years, people have been building here, not taking into account what lies beneath the ground, which over time can cause problems - said Stefania Nisio, quoted by the "TG la 7" portal.
