Driver Plunges Cadillac Into Sinkhole After Ignoring Cones and Barriers

A driver crashed into a large sinkhole in Maryland on Wednesday after driving around cones and barriers that were set up to protect a work site following a water leak.

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) said that a man in a Cadillac drove into a sinkhole that was located on the 7600 block of South Osborne Road in Upper Marlboro, Maryland on Wednesday afternoon, according to Fox 5 DC.

The driver was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries after he managed to escape from the car that became submerged in water during the incident, Prince George's County's fire and EMS officials told local station WRC-TV.

The incident occurred while WSCC officials were responding to a water main break at around 4:30 a.m., which later in the day caused the roadway to collapse into a sinkhole.

Crews set up cones and barriers around the sinkhole while they worked on the water leak, but WSCC officials said that the man drove around the protections put in place and into the sinkhole.

At around 4:40 p.m., the agency tweeted that the car had been removed from the sinkhole and that repairs on the site would now be able to continue.

"The vehicle is out! Still some water to pump out of the hole before crews can begin the repairs to the water main. Long day and a long night of repairs ahead," WSCC tweeted, before posting a warning to other residents.

"Our crews respond to an avg of 1,800 water main breaks every year. If you see our crews, our trucks plz follow traffic directions and respect the work zone. Help us keep you and our team safe!" the agency wrote on Wednesday evening.

Newsweek has contacted the WSCC for comment.

Sinkholes, which are found all over the world, can form gradually or appear very suddenly, making them extremely dangerous.

In June, two dogs were saved from a giant sinkhole that they fell into at a farm in Mexico, after it grew in size and began to swallow a nearby house.

The sinkhole in the state of Puebla, which grew to the same size as an American football field, was formed late in May on a farm in the town of Juan C. Bonilla.

As the house began to get swallowed up, causing the family that owned it to evacuate, the two dogs fell into the hole and were trapped for four days on a ledge inside the crater.

The dogs were eventually rescued after the emergency services initially held off from taking them to safety because of the dangerous conditions at the sinkhole.

Meanwhile, in early July, a large sinkhole caused by a faulty drain pipe following three inches of rain in the space of 24 hours opened up in Ohio, swallowing a portion of a baseball field.