200-meter-long sinkhole opens in Florence and swallows 20 cars, Italy

A 200-meter-long (650 feet) and 7-meter-wide (23 feet) sinkhole opened up along the Arno River in the center of Florence, Italy around 06:15 (local time) on May 25, 2016, swallowing 20 parked cars.

Emergency services cordoned off the area and asked the residents to evacuate. City's mayor described the situation as very serious.

The initial investigation by the fire service suggests that the sinkhole was caused by a large aqueduct pipe breaking, one of the major water conduits in the neighborhood, and not a leak in the banks of the river.

According to Local.it, this is not the first time a sinkhole has caused chaos in Italy. "They are particularly common in the south of the country due to a combination of weather conditions and structural issues. Sinkholes have opened up in Naples on more than one occasion, prompting hundreds to be evacuated from their homes, and they have swallowed cars in Catania and engulfed trucks in central Rome," the paper said.

Nobody was injured during today's incident.

Featured image: Sinkhole in Florence, Italy on May 25, 2016. Credit: Gianluca Monti (via Twitter)