Huge Sinkhole Outside Italy Hospital Swallows Many Cars; Fortunately No Injuries Reported
Patients had to be evacuated from a hospital in Italy's Naples on Friday after a huge section of the carpark collapsed, causing water and electricity to be cut off.?
The huge sinkhole, about 22,000 square feet across and 66 feet deep, swallowed several cars and forced the evacuation of a Covid ward after opening up in the parking lot of the hospital in southern Italy.?
The incident took place around 6:30 a.m. local time, according to the Ospedale del Mare hospital in Naples. Various vehicles that were parked in the area plummeted into the hole, the local fire brigade said.?
"Hydro-geological problem"?
Vincenzo De Luca, the head of the Campania region that includes Naples, said "fortunately it has not caused any damage either in terms of systems engineering or especially in terms of human lives". He blamed a "hydro-geological problem".
Naples Police told CNN that the "magistrate has appointed a technical expert to ascertain the causes of the collapse, which could be due to water infiltration given the heavy rains of the last two weeks."?
"The early-morning hypothesis that it was an explosion has been dismissed. No injured or victims," the police added.?
Hospital was a covid centre?
The hospital was a centre for coronavirus patients during the first wave of infections last year, although only six were being treated there on Friday. The fire brigade used dog units to check no one was trapped at the site.?
There was also a water outage across the hospital, the press office said. Generators are now supplying it with electricity.?
The Ospedale del Mare is where the closely watched Napoli 1 Covid Center was built using containers in a car park during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, which overwhelmed Italy's healthcare system.? ? ? ?
