A family in Florida is trying to deal with a harrowing ordeal – a sinkhole that opened up underneath their home and swallowed a man inside.
The sinkhole, now about 10 meters across, is threatening to devour the entire house.
The local fire chief says the ground opened suddenly beneath the 37-year-old victim’s bedroom, and he was gone.
“All they could see was part of a mattress sticking out of a hole,” said Ron Rogers, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue chief.
Jeremy Bush said he heard his brother, Jeff, scream. He rushed in and tried to dig him out.
“I know in my heart he’s dead. But I just want to be here for him because I love him.”
The state of Florida is especially prone to sinkholes in areas built above limestone deposits. That’s because cavities develop in the porous rock under wet conditions, and can easily collapse.
Recovery effort ends
Florida rescue workers have ended their efforts to recover the body
“Our data has come back, and there is absolutely no way we can do any kind of recovery without endangering lives of workers,” said Hillsborough County Fire Rescue spokeswoman Jessica Damico.
She said demolition of the home would begin early today.
Authorities had not detected any signs of life using listening devices and cameras at the scene.
“There’s nothing compatible with life in this situation,” Damico said. “There’s no way of possible survival.”
Jeff Bush’s brother, 35-year-old Jeremy Bush, had feared his brother was lost after jumping into the hole and furiously digging in an effort to find him.
“I thank the Lord for not taking my daughter and the rest of my family,” Jeremy said on Saturday.
Jeremy himself had to be rescued from the sinkhole by the first responder to the emergency call, Douglas Duvall of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. When Duvall entered Jeff Bush’s bedroom, all he saw was a widening chasm but no sign of Jeff.
“The hole took the entire bedroom,” said Duvall. “You could see the bedframe, the dresser, everything was sinking,” he said.
Norman Wicker, 48, the father of Jeremy’s fiancée who also lived in the house, ran to get a flashlight and shovel.
“It sounded like a car ran into the back of the house,” Wicker said.
