Tuesday, 09/17/2024

Huge Hole Opens Under Illinois Sports Field

This overhead view of the sinkhole in Alton, Illinois, was captured by a drone. You can see the fake grass falling down the sides of the hole. No one was hurt when the hole opened up. (CITY OF ALTON, ILLINOIS)

The moment was recorded on video. The recording shows a soccer field in Illinois.

A huge hole opens up in the field. A lamp pole and benches fall in. So does the fake grass.

Thankfully, there are no soccer players around.

Holy Moly

Gordon Moore Park is in Alton, Illinois. On any given day, groups of kids play soccer there. The soccer center was built over a limestone mine. The mine is still in use.

The working mine caused the sinkhole. The hole is at least 100 feet wide. It is up to 50 feet deep, according to Michael Haynes. He runs the city’s parks.

The recording hardly seems real, Haynes said.

“[It is] kind of like a movie where the ground just falls out from underneath you,” he told the press.

“No one was on the field at the time,” said Mayor David Goins. “No one was hurt …. That’s the most important thing.”

Hole Opens, Park Closes

After the sinkhole formed, the park and some roads closed. Haynes doesn’t know how the hole will be fixed. Experts will need to make sure the nearby ground is safe.

There is no telling when the park and roads might reopen. The city will act as fast as it can.

 

Vocabulary

  • mine n. pit or tunnel from which minerals (such as coal, gold, diamonds, etc.) are taken
  • hardly adv. almost not at all
  • underneath prep. below

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