California firefighters rushed to rescue a mother and daughter trapped inside a vehicle after a sinkhole opened up a highway Monday night, engulfing two cars as storms continue to batter the state, according to officials and reports. local.
The incident occurred just before 7:30 p.m. in the 11400 block of Iverson Road in Chatsworth as heavy rain drenched the area, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
Firefighters arrived to find one car on top of another in the sinkhole, which authorities estimated was already 15 feet deep and growing as it filled with water flooding the street.
While two people in a van that fell on top of the lower car were able to get out of the vehicle without assistance, two others were trapped inside the lower car.
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The sinkhole swallowed two vehicles, one on top of the other, in the Los Angeles suburb of Chatsworth.
(Los Angeles Fire Department)
Andrew Wordin, LAFD battalion chief, said the lower wagon began to move, “sink and roll.”
“More water was flowing in from the street and filling the hole,” Wordin said. “We had to get these people out of this car.”
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LAFD battalion chief Andrew Wordin said water flowing down the street was filling up the growing drain and firefighters had to move quickly to save the two victims.
(Los Angeles Fire Department)
Firefighters launched a high-angle rescue using a rope and aerial ladder to lower a crew member into the growing sinkhole. Firefighters lifted one victim at a time from the sump to safety.
The woman and girl were treated at a hospital for minor injuries, LAFD spokeswoman Margaret Stewart told FOX11 Los Angeles.
A team of 50 firefighters participated in the rescue in the suburban Los Angeles neighborhood.
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California has faced a relentless series of storms that began last week, inundating highways, turning rivers into flood zones and forcing thousands of people to flee towns with a history of deadly mudslides.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
