Shocking footage shows the moment a teenager was swallowed up when a huge sinkhole opened up as she was waiting to cross the road.
Nineteen-year-old is Laura Vilarinho suffered a torn ligament to her left elbow in the incident, but thankfully was not seriously hurt.
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Footage shows the hole, which was almost two metres deep, opened up on a street in Uberlandia, Brazil, swallowing up the teen, who was left lying motionless.
Vilarinho, a law student, had been out with her mum yesterday morning (Wednesday 16 December) when they attempted to cross a road in the city centre.
As she stepped onto the central reservation, the ground gave way and she disappeared into the hole.
Her terrified mother began to scream, which helped catch the attention of passers-by who rushed over to offer help.
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Firefighters and paramedics rushed to the scene to rescue Vilarinho and check her over before taking her to hospital.
Vilarinho was given a series of tests at hospital before being discharged later the same day.
In a statement, the local authority water and sewage department said the rupture of an underground drain, coupled with recent heavy rainfall, could have led to small cracks developing at the site and possibly caused subsurface erosion.
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The road is one of the busiest in the city and is built on top of a stream. When rainy seasons hit the city, it frequently floods.
Drainage manager, Kleyton Silas, who inspected the scene, has said a full investigation will be launched to get to the bottom of what happened.
He said to Record TV: "There was a tree in the vicinity that was recently removed and the roots may have compromised the sidewalk's foundations.
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"It's too early to say exactly what the reason is behind this incident but we intend we get answers as to what caused it."
Earlier this year in the US, a man was left horrified after he fell through a sinkhole and ended up trapped underground with rats.
Leonard Shoulders, 33, from the Bronx in New York said he couldn't even scream or shout for help, for fear that the rats would climb into his mouth.
The man, who had been waiting for a bus at the time, didn't sustain any serious injuries in the incident but he claimed he had been left 'traumatised'.
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Featured Image Credit: FocusOn News
Topics: World News