Six people including two children died when their car fell into a huge hole in the middle of a main road near the breakaway Crimean capital of Simferopol.
Pictures show the mangled wreckage at the bottom of the huge hole and it’s clear there was no way driver Ibrail Eskandarov could have avoided the huge hole when it appeared in front of his vehicle at night.
Eskandarov, 34, had slammed on the brakes but crashed into the hole together with his wife, Eskandarova, 33, and twins Asan and Muslim, 3, and Aliye, 16.
Also killed was their friend Salimova Asiye, 37.
Both of her children who were also in the car — Serim, just 12 months old, and Levida, 12 — were hospitalized with serious injuries. Their condition was described as critical.
According to rescue workers, the massive circular hole, which was at least 20 feet deep and 25 feet wide, had suddenly appeared in the middle of the road in front of the car.
When the earth caved in below the road, taking the tarmac with it, it also took out electric cables, cutting off lighting and making it impossible to see.
Rescue workers spokesman Leonti Kirillov said: “We had 43 rescue staff at the scene with 16 vehicles involved in the rescue effort. We managed to save a boy child and a 12-year-old girl. The boy has a serious head injury and is still in a coma, and the girl also has multiple fractures. Both are in intensive care.”
The accident happened on the highway between the city of Simferopol in the disputed southern Crimean Peninsula and the village of Nikolaevka.
A spokesman for the region’s Emergencies Ministry said it would have been impossible for the driver to have avoided the hole because the road was unlit.
The agency said the six who died apparently died instantly after suffering massive injuries, and the cause of the sinkhole was being investigated.