An Israeli man was killed after being sucked into a sinkhole while attending a pool party on Thursday.
via People:
According to the Times of Israel, Klil Kimhi was found dead hours after he was sucked into a sinkhole that formed at the bottom of a pool. The outlet said that the 32-year-old was a guest at a house party in Karmi Yosef hosted by his employer.
In a video posted to Facebook, an Israel Fire & Rescue Authority representative at the scene said local firefighters, police, and military rescue teams helped in the search efforts.
“Behind us is a pool where a pool party had just taken place, [attended by] about 50 people, a marketing event,” they said in a translation. “A sinkhole suddenly appeared, and all the pool’s water was sucked down into it, along with some party guests.”
“There is a high alert for a man sucked into the sinkhole with the water,” they added. “[He’s] around 30 years old and was likely sucked into underground tunnels below the house along with the pool’s water…”
Kimhi’s body was found at the end of a 49-foot tunnel, per the Jerusalem Post.
“This is a very unusual incident,” a paramedic told the outlet. “When I got to the scene, I saw a pit that had opened at the bottom of the empty pool. People who were at the site told me that the pit opened suddenly and within a few seconds all the water of the pool was pulled in.”
Footage of the incident was shared on social media and showed water and inflatable toys being sucked into the hole. At one point, a man slipped near the hole’s edge but was pulled up by a nearby guest.
According to the Associated Press, the home’s owners built the pool without proper licensing.
Police arrested a couple in their 60s on “suspicion of causing death by negligence,” BBC reported. The pair have since appeared in court, according to the outlet.
The U.S. Department of Environmental Protection says many factors can lead to a sinkhole, but many are created due to water that has nowhere to drain. Once the liquid accumulates underground, it erodes rock and minerals. The erosion creates a “void space” that moves toward the surface.
Over time, a hole forms that can eventually grow large enough that the ground above it collapses — resulting in a sinkhole.
The last thing we need right now is the earth just deciding to swallow people up.
