GLEN LYON, Pa. — More than a dozen residents are displaced after a massive sinkhole opened up in Luzerne County.
Officials with the Newport Township Fire Department say the ground collapsed in the Glen Lyon section of Newport Township around 12:30 p.m. Sunday near Rock Street.
Five units in two separate buildings were condemned as a result, and at least 20 people are displaced. Red Cross is on scene helping those affected.
The Department of Environmental Protection says the sinkhole appears to be the result of a mine subsidence that lies 750 feet below the sinkhole. The depth of the hole is currently about 100 feet.
Officials warn people to stay away from the area.
"This area has a history of mining. The Glen Lyon coal company, as a matter of fact, the hole itself is at the base of where the old breaker used to stand. So we're just encouraging people to stay away from it, sightseers or anything, just don't go near it because the ground could give way at any time," said Colleen Connolly, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
The Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation has been called in to investigate the sinkhole in Luzerne County.
A viewer sent Newswatch 16 these photos of the sinkhole:
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