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Hole Opens in Guatemala Neighborhood, 3 Missing

Reuters
Feb 24, 2007

Aerial view of the huge hole caused after a collapse in the sewage system in the neighbourhood of San Antonio, Guatemala. Three people are missing and hundreds are being evacuated as a precaution against more possible collapses. (Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images)

GUATEMALA CITY—Three people were missing 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 Thursday night. Authorities evacuated hundreds of people 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.



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