Firefighters Rescue Florida Woman from 40-Foot Sinkhole 11 Hours After Car Fell In

Firefighters rescued a woman trapped in a 40-foot sinkhole in Florida for 11 hours after her car fell inside.

The woman was driving with her friend through a patch of woods on private property Wednesday night when their vehicle crashed into a sinkhole filled with water, according to a release from the High Springs Fire Department.

Both the woman and the man accompanying her were able to climb out of the vehicle’s windows. The man was able to scale the sinkhole’s steep slope and made it out to call for help, but the woman could not make it.

First responders arrived at the scene early Thursday morning. High Springs Fire Department Lt. Kevin Pearson lowered himself inside the sinkhole and lifted the woman in distress out of the hole using a harness and rope shortly before 7:30 a.m.

The woman did not suffer any serious injuries, according to the fire department.

The Weather Channel reported that there are more sinkholes in Florida than anywhere else in the country. In recent years, thousands of Floridians have filed insurance claims related to sinkholes.

The incident took place the same day a gigantic sinkhole opened up in a parking lot at a Naples, Italy, hospital, swallowing up multiple cars and forcing a nearby residence housing coronavirus patients to temporarily close.