Canal sinkhole: Dramatic drone footage captures extent of huge West Midlands sinkhole after 10 people rescued from boats left stranded
Aerial footage and pictures show the dramatic scenes left as a huge sinkhole breached a canal in Whitchurch in north Shropshire (pictures by Tim Thursfield).
The bird's eye view images capture the extent of the huge 50-metre-long sinkhole that breached a canal in Shropshire, leaving several narrowboats stranded as a major incident was declared.
See the Shropshire Star's live blog here: Shropshire sinkhole: Latest updates as major incident declared at Shropshire canal
Emergency services declared a major incident after receiving reports at 4.22am on Monday of a sinkhole causing large volumes of water to escape onto land in the Chemistry area of Whitchurch.
Councillor Sho Abdul told the Shropshire Star of his shock and he thought an explosion had gone off, adding “it’s a miracle no-one was hurt” - while thanking the emergency services for their swift response.
Emergency services are currently on scene at the Shropshire Union Canal and a multi-agency response has been set up, co-ordinated through the Shropshire Tactical Co-ordination Group.
West Mercia Police said in a statement: “There are currently no reports of any casualties, and residents are being assisted by the fire service.”
