car was swallowed up by an enormous sinkhole
© SOL tv
Sinking feeling: A young family had to be rescued after their car was swallowed up by an enormous sinkhole
A young family had to be saved after a gigantic sinkhole opened up beneath them and swallowed the car they were sitting in.

Video footage of the rescue shows the car lying almost vertically in the chasm, as passersby help a man and woman climb out of the driver's side door.

Three people, Edgar Orlando Bartolo Silva, 34, Marisol Mercedes Gutierrez Siccha. 31 and their two-year-old daughter escaped unhurt, Sol TV reported.

They were taken to hospital as a precaution.


Deep trouble: The huge chasm was thought to have been caused by recent heavy rain
© SOL tv
Deep trouble: The huge chasm was thought to have been caused by recent heavy rain
A crane was later used to extract the car from the five metre wide hole.

The incident happened on Thursday in Trujillo, in northwestern Peru.

It is believed the sinkhole was a result of the heavy rain that has battered the city in recent days, causing flooding and school closures.