It seems fantastical that the Earth could simply open up and swallow whatever is above it. However, sinkholes are a real danger, and just over the past few months sinkholes have taken cars, ponds, and people.
This week, a man in East Rutherford New Jersey was pulled into a sinkhole that opened beneath him during work. According to a New Jersey Star-Ledger report, the man was driving a forklift in a food products storage warehouse when the sinkhole swallowed both him and the forklift whole. The sinkhole, which opened right under a loading dock, was estimated to be 40 by 40 feet.
The man was, luckily, rescued and escaped with only minor injuries. The warehouse has been evacuated and building officials are now trying to figure out what caused the sinkhole.
A Florida man earlier this year was not quite as lucky as the warehouse worker. In April a sinkhole swallowed a man named Jeffrey Bush. The man was reportedly lounging in his bedroom when the entire room collapsed from under him. Bush and all of the room’s furniture were buried, and he did not survive.