A huge 80m sink hole is threatening to swallow a family home teetering on the brink of total collapse.
The Sanchez family heard a loud crash near their home in a rural area of central Mexico on Saturday – thinking it was a huge bolt of lightning striking at first.
But they were shocked to see the noise was actually a huge chunk of land metres from their home collapsing into the earth.
Since then, residents living nearby said the hole, in a field in Santa Maria Zacatepec in the state of Puebla, has been expanding each day.
Within 24 hours it was already estimated to be 30m wide and is also now full of water.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Over the past week, it has grown to a terrifying 80m wide and now threatens to totally swallow the Sanchez family home.
They are now left fearing the sinkhole will leave them homeless.
Heriberto Sanchez said: “We have nothing. We’re not from here. We have no relatives. We’re alone.”
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Scientists claim a geological fault or variations in the soil’s water content could have caused the ground to sink.
Authorities have said the hole will continue to grow until water stops exerting pressure on the land.
Puebla state governor Miguel Barbosa said: “It will grow until nature decides, when the water stops exerting pressure.
“The important thing now is public safety,” he said, adding that the authorities would compensate those affected.
