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At least 10 rescued, several evacuated as Shropshire sinkhole triggers flood fears
Two boats had sunk into the hole, while two others were stuck on the edge, BBC reported.
A sinkhole has reportedly opened up in a Shropshire canal in England, with several boats reportedly stuck in the hole, while many others are close to the edge. The sinkhole has been declared a major incident, with The Guardian reporting that at least 10 people were rescued following the incident which triggered flood fears.
BBC reported that two narrowboats sunk into the hole shortly after 04:00 GMT, while two others were at the edge. The cavity, according to reports, is said to be four meters deep. Fifty firefighters have been deployed for rescue operations, BBC quoted Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) as saying.
“Three boats had been caught in a developing sinkhole approximately 50 metres by 50 metres in size and crews helped more than 10 members of the public to safety,” the department was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
“Firefighters have been working in challenging conditions with unstable ground and rapidly moving water, crews immediately established upstream and downstream safety sectors and began mitigating water flow using barge boards and water gate systems," the fire department further said.
No casualties have been reported and fire services personnel were reportedly assisting the people. Sky News reported that firefighters used barge boards and water gates to control the water flow to establish “upstream and downstream safety sectors.”
The report further added that around a dozen local residents have been evacuated from nearby moored boats and are being relocated to a welfare centre.
What caused the sinkhole?
The BBC quoted the Canal and River Trust saying the sinkhole had been caused by an “embankment failure” which led to large volumes of water spilling out in the surrounding fields.
People living on boats near the site of the incident were alerted by unusual noises and thought it was an earthquake. An eyewitness told the BBC that the sounds felt so scary that people fled their vessels.
“The water from the canal has leaked out of the canal into the surrounding fields… There are up to 15 people who had to be moved out of the way to safety, and there's a number of canal boats that have been affected, some of those have gone into the field and some are at the bottom of the canal,” Scott Hurford, area manager at Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, was quoted as saying by the BBC.
