Sikhole
© CLickOnDetroit
Amber Flemings said it only took an instant for panic mode to set in when she realized the SUV she, her mother and her 2-year-old niece were in was being swallowed by a giant sinkhole on Detroit's east side.

Flemings, her 62-year-old mother and 2-year-old niece were on their way home from a dentist appointment on Thursday afternoon when they cautiously began approaching a pool of water along Beaubien and Smith streets.

"The next thing we know, the car just pitched forward and it just started sinking. Water started coming in and the baby just started freaking out," Flemings said.

People nearby pulled the trio to safety.

Flemings said she's grateful the situation was only an inconvenience and nothing more serious. She starts her third year of college this week and has been left without some of her things that were in the SUV.

"I'm actually in the process of moving back into the dorms. So, some of my stuff was in the trunk. So, now we have to deal with the stuff that we lost," she said. "We also have to deal with the fact that now I don't have any transportation to get me to school. Not to mention my mom, who is handicapped, she doesn't have any transportation."


Hubert Watkins, who lives nearby, said he saw the sinkhole begin to take form earlier in the day.

"I have seen it sink before. Just a couple years ago it sank," Watkins said. "I have been watching it for a couple of days -- sinking. I called in early this morning about it sinking."

A construction crew contained the hole and drained it dry. The hole is at least 10 feet deep and 25 feet wide.

"We're going to get the water shut down, dig down to the barrel and replace the two 12-inch storm lines that broke," said Greg Hoffman, of Blaze Contracting.

"Just a while ago after the rain, she drove right in there and it fell in on her," Watkins said about the driver of the vehicle.