Press "Enter" to skip to content

Family evacuated after farmland sinkhole expands to nearly 100 meters

Juan C. Bonilla, in Puebla — A sinkhole that appeared in the middle of farmland at the beginning of this month has continued to expand. The massive hole, which is now nearing 100 meters in diameter, has begun felling farmland property.

Authorities in the town of Juan C. Bonilla say they remain attentive to the ever-increasing size of the hole, which has now reached the private home of the farm owners. The expanding hole is responsible for the collapse of a section of the home’s concrete fence earlier this week.

During a press conference, Ana Lucía Hill Mayoral, head of the state Ministry of the Interior (Segob), reported that initially, a drone overflight revealed the hole had grown from 80 to 83 meters in a 24 hour period.

Now, however, the sinkhole has expanded to 97 meters on the major axis and 83 meters on the minor axis with a depth of approximately 15 meters.

“During the night, the detachment of the perimeter fence of the house that is located right next to the sinkhole began and with a drone, it was possible to identify that there was an increase in the distance of the axis.”

Officials in the state remain without an explanation regarding its cause. They have only said that the water and soil samples being taken by 10 experts will take about 25 days for results, which may help determine what has caused the hole to appear.

Governor Miguel Barbosa said that the Sánchez Xaliamihua family had to vacate their house due to the expanding sinkhole and inevitable collapse of their fence, adding that the city has rented them a new home until the issue is resolved.