Giant sinkhole swallows cars in Jerusalem hospital parking lot
Pit opens up outside Shaare Zedek Medical Center apparently after tunnel collapses, taking with it vehicles; no injuries reported
Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
A large sinkhole opened in the parking lot of the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon, swallowing a number of cars and prompting emergency services to scramble units to the area.
Seven fire trucks rushed to the scene. There were no injures in the incident.
The sinkhole is believed to have been formed as a result of nearby construction work for a new route at the entrance of Jerusalem. A tunnel under construction, which also runs underneath the hospital and parking lot, appeared to have partially collapsed, according to Hebrew-language media reports.
Police said they received a report of “a collapse” in the parking lot of the hospital.
Video shared on social media showed cars tumbling into a pit that grew in size as its walls collapsed.
גורם המעורה בטיפול באירוע בשערי צדק: מבדיקה ראשונית של מצלמות האבטחה נראה שאין נפגעים | תיעוד רגע הקריסה@SuleimanMas1 @diklaaharon pic.twitter.com/VeHaCgKyzt
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) June 7, 2021
תיעוד נוסף מקריסת החניון בשערי צדק. עד כה לא דווח על נפגעים@VeredPelman pic.twitter.com/a6lZDlaCTV
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) June 7, 2021
The hospital had recently opened a new parking lot able to accommodate several hundred vehicles. However, the pit appeared to have opened in the area of the old parking lot, near the pay station at the exit.
The Fire and Rescue Service said that in addition to the seven fire trucks that were sent to the scene, a special rescue unit was also dispatched to search for any people who may have been trapped inside vehicles that dropped into the hole.
The Times of Israel Community.