Florida, USA: A man is swallowed by a giant sinkhole that opened up in his room

March 2, 2013
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Rescue efforts to recover the body of a Florida man who fell into a sinkhole 100 feet deep that opened beneath his bedroom, have stalled on Saturday for fear that the whole house collapsed.

Florida Authorities described the site as “seriously unstable” and said that the opening of the gap is likely to continue growing.

A terrible scene took place in the house in Brandom, near Tampa, on Thursday night, when Jeff Bush, 37, was swallowed by a giant hole and trapped under rubble. He is presumed dead.

The sinkhole swallowed part of the interior of the house and although the outside appears to be intact, rescuers fear the ground is unstable.

Tests have revealed a considerable amount of water that collects beneath the structure, making rescue efforts more dangerous.

Local engineers continue with the execution of certain tests Saturday to determine if rescuers can enter the house.

Jeremy Bush, 36, recalls how he tried desperately to get his brother, Jeff, from the rubble after hear his cries for help.

‘We heard a loud crash,’ Jeremy told My Fox Tampa Bay as he broke down in tears. ‘I ran in there and heard somebody screaming, my brother screaming, and I ran in there.

‘And all I see is this big hole. All I see is the top of his bed. I didn’t see anything else, so I jumped in the hole and tried getting him out.

“The floor was still giving in and the dirt was still going down, but I didn’t care. I wanted to save my brother. I could hear him screaming for me, hollering for me. I couldn’t do nothing.’

The dresser and the TV set also vanished down the hole, he said.

‘All I could see was the cable wire running from the TV going down into the hole. I saw a corner of the bed and a corner of the box spring and the frame of the bed,’ he said.