Sinkhole engulfs boats in a British canal; no injuries reported

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Dec. 22 (UPI) -- A large sinkhole in a British canal swallowed several boats early Monday, causing more than 10 people to be rescued, local authorities said.

The sinkhole was in the Shropshire Union Canal in Chemistry, Whitchurch, Shropshire, England, near the Welsh border. The hole was about 164 feet long and wide, the Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said. It left three boats stranded in the hole, with one teetering on the edge.

West Mercia Police said in a statement: "There are currently no reports of any casualties, and residents are being assisted by the fire service."

The Canal and River Trust said it dammed off the section of the canal, and had closed off the area. The trust said it was also supporting affected boaters.

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Andy Hall, a council member in Whitchurch, told the BBC that people thought there was an earthquake.

"We've got two boats at the bottom of the sinkhole that have fallen down, and we've got two boats that are teetering on the edge that could go in at any time," he said. "The most important thing is that the canal itself has been secured by fire and rescue. Their biggest worry was that the canal was going to burst even more and flood residents in the town."

Water from the canal flooded a neighboring piece of land.

Bob Wood, 75, told The Guardian he had been sleeping on his boat when the hole appeared, but woke up in time to jump off. He then banged on a nearby boat to alert the people on board.

"I was in the boat asleep and I thought I needed to go to the toilet, so I got up and thought, 'We are leaning a bit,'" he said. "I thought I was in the middle of a big storm. There was the sound of a lot of water.

"I opened the back door to see why we were tilting and realized it was not raining at all and it was the water running away under the boat. I jumped on the back and stepped off, and that bit was going down at that second. The back went 8 foot in the air, and I landed on my front."

Wood, who has lived on his boat for eight years, moored it Sunday night. He said he watched it go nose-first into the hole on Monday morning, and that his neighbour got out just in time before his vessel went down backward.

Several of Britain's canals and rivers are under strain from funding shortages and climate pressures, The Guardian said.

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