Cars remain in the bottom of a massive sinkhole in Rome after a road opened up and swallowed half a dozen vehicles into a muddy chasm Wednesday afternoon.
The incident happened the city’s northwest neighbourhood of Balduinan just before 6 p.m. local time, according to Rome officials.
“The road has sunk for about 10 meters, dragging some parked vehicles with it,” firefighters said in a statement.
No one was injured but 22 families were forced to flee from nearby buildings.
On Thursday morning, firefighters were still in the pit carrying out security and stability checks. They are still investigating the cause of the sinkhole.
However, the sinkhole is near a construction site, where workers are building residential structures, according to public broadcaster RAI News.
The news agency said residents had previously complained the construction company was building on an unstable site full of cracks in the road.
One resident said she felt the floor of the house shaking in the past few days.
According to the ANSA news agency, prosecutors had placed a property owner and the company handling construction along the road under investigation Thursday.
— With files from the Associated Press
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