Sinkhole Opens Up And Partially Swallows Bus In Downtown Pittsburgh

Nov 06, 2019 by apost team

On October 28, a large sinkhole suddenly opened under a bus in Pittsburgh and partially swallowed it.

The sinkhole appeared at 10th street and Penn Avenue near the Westin Hotel at a little before 8 am. It swallowed the rear of the bus and nearly got a car that was parked on its edge. Emergency crews were immediately called to the scene, and it took them hours to remove the bus. They found that the sinkhole was 20 feet deep and that the bus was sitting on three major power lines. The emergency workers thus had to turn those off before moving the bus, which left some local businesses without power. The Small World Child Care daycare center was also left without water, so the children there were evacuated to the Westin Hotel.

The emergency workers then arranged to have two large cranes brought to the scene, and the cranes arrived shortly before 5 p.m. The workers also had the car immediately behind the bus towed to safety, according to CBS Pittsburgh. Its driver wasn’t hurt. The cranes finished hauling the bus out of the sinkhole by 9:45 pm.

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Wendell Hissrich, the Director of Pittsburgh Public Safety noted that the incident’s impact would last well beyond that Monday, according to CBS Pittsburgh. He estimated that 10th Street would have to be closed for at least one or two weeks.

The bus belonged to the Port Authority, and they commented that the rear of their buses is by far the heaviest part, because that is where the engine is. The Port Authority also reported that the two people on board had made it off. The bus driver was uninjured, but the passenger went to Allegheny General Hospital to be treated for minor neck pain.

The Pittsburgh Sewer and Water Authority is investigating the cause of the sinkhole. They will also check to see if any sewer, water, and storm lines were damaged. Contractors are currently removing debris. Since many utilities, including Verizon, Duquesne Light, and Peoples Gas, were affected by the sinkhole, repairs will take weeks.

According to CBS Pittsburgh, the Oakmont Bakery later decided to commemorate the episode by making donuts with black and yellow frosting and a blue bus stuck in the hole. Another bakery, La Mangria, made cupcakes decorated with blue buses.

What do you think about this story? How would you have reacted if you were on that bus? Let us know in the comments and be sure to pass this article along!