Truck Pulled From Sinkhole In San Francisco's SoMa
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – All lanes are now open on Seventh Street between Townsend and Brannan streets in San Francisco after a sinkhole opened up early Friday morning, a San Francisco Public Utilities Commission spokeswoman said.
Seventh Street was closed for hours between those two streets as crews worked to fill in a sinkhole that earlier swallowed up a truck, according to Betsy Lauppe Rhodes, a spokeswoman for the SFPUC.
The incident happened at around 5:30 a.m. Friday morning, the driver told KPIX 5.
#BREAKING a large truck fell into a sinkhole within the area of 7th st & Townsend in #SF @jackie_ward on scene pic.twitter.com/p8LqaqCpbc
— KPIX 5 (@KPIXtv) May 5, 2017
.@SFPD on scene and say public is not at risk. @CBSSF pic.twitter.com/eYpwNK9Kzw
— Jackie Ward (@jackiewardmedia) May 5, 2017
The driver said as the vehicle was sinking, he had to wait for the truck to stop before he could escape.
"When I stopped, I felt the truck falling towards the right side, sinking in slow motion," the driver explained. "I took off my seatbelt and jumped from the door."
The truck driver said he was relieved no one was hurt in the incident. He said he also got the day off work after the ordeal.
The truck was pulled from the sinkhole by a tow truck by around 9:30 a.m.
7th street & Townsend #sinkhole update: situation is stable. Crew on site. 7th street still closed to traffic. pic.twitter.com/0dCA7JiKbA
— SF Water Power Sewer (@MySFPUC) May 5, 2017
There is an inactive 8-inch sewer main underneath the sinkhole, but the cause of the collapse won't be known until crews start an investigation after removing the truck, said Rhodes.
The fire department estimated the sinkhole is 15 feet by 10 feet in size.
7th Street remained closed as SF Water crews investigated the cause. At around 1 p.m., the street opened in the northbound direction only.
Traffic was reopened in both directions by about 4:26 p.m.
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