OTTAWA — A gaping hole has opened up in a busy downtown thoroughfare just blocks from Parliament Hill.
Police say 911 calls started coming in at mid-morning and they have been blocking off streets surrounding the cave-in at the corner of Rideau St. and Sussex Drive.
The van on Rideau Street is now under water #ottnews #sinkhole pic.twitter.com/l6Gk5WjM2s
— CTV Ottawa (@ctvottawa) June 8, 2016
"You could see the hole developing. When I got up higher, you could look down into the hole and see the water rising in the hole and the street collapsing into the hole,” One witness told.
No injuries have been reported, although a taxi van is believed to have been swallowed up by the sinkhole, which television footage shows was full of water from a broken water main.
The city says nearby buildings have been evacuated because of the smell of gas.
Guys I just saw a car get sucked into the sinkhole #ottawasinkhole #sinkhole #ottawa pic.twitter.com/7YyaHpzudr
— Anne-Sophie Alarie (@_Sophster) June 8, 2016
Water service in the area has been cut and traffic has been re-routed.
The road itself had been limited to bus and taxi traffic only since last summer due to road and subway construction.
Nearby buildings have been evacuated due to the smell of gas. Please follow instructions from building management https://t.co/YYMTGAkYtv
— City of Ottawa (@ottawacity) June 8, 2016
This is the second sinkhole to open up in downtown Ottawa in recent years.
This is the second sinkhole to open up in the downtown in recent years.
In 2014, another road just a few blocks away collapsed. Officials blamed it on unexpected soil conditions encountered during a tunnelling operation.
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