WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— Incredible video shows the moment a road collapsed in Wilkes-Barre Wednesday, nearly swallowing a car and a truck.
28/22 News observed crews on the scene of a road collapse just after 5:30 p.m.
Water main break affecting multiple communities
Neighbors say the road has had issues in the past with heavy trucks going down the street, but they say the truck was parked due to a construction project going on in the area.
Horton Street is closed for the time being.
One person was evacuated and no one was injured, according to officials.
Wilkes-Barre police and fire departments are on scene handling the investigation.
Crews have been there for much of the evening trying to clean up the mess and keep drivers and pedestrians away from the area.
Just after 5:00 p.m. Wednesday evening the road in the 200 block of Horton street in Wilkes-Barre gave out, nearly taking a construction vehicle with it and narrowly missed taking out a car passing by.
The section of Horton Street in Wilkes-Barre gave way, collapsing into the earth below and leaving behind a roughly 20-foot deep hole.
If you watch the video above, you'll see a silver car miss the collapse by what looks like inches.
The driver of that car is safe and no one was in the truck when the road gave out, but the city is warning people to stay away.
"It's not a safe area right now. We're going to have police here and we'll have other contractors working so it's not a place that people should come and just see what's going on," expressed Mayor George Brown, (D) Wilkes-Barre.
City officials say the collapse was likely caused by a back up in the storm water system running 20 feet below the city. They say the 56-inch pipe collapsed, causing pressure to build in the rest of the system.
"There's no immediate danger to the rest of the system going north from here. Everything south has been relieved, the water's flowing quite normal," said David Lewis, DPW supervisor/inspector, Wilkes-Barre.
A gas line was also ruptured in the collapse, but UGI was able to get that line closed.
Just down the street, without gas or water, Gerry's Pizzeria was forced to stop taking orders and close up shop for the night.
"We're losing money, we're not making pizza, we're not feeding our family and the city of Wilkes-Barre. So, it is what it is," stated Brian Ricci, Co-Owner, Gerry's Pizzeria.
Mayor Brown says they've been working to address the city's aging sewer lines, some of them more than 100 years old, but now they must also turn their attention to the storm system.
"This is why we have a lot of work to be done in the city of Wilkes-Barre on the sewer lines and now the storm water lines," explained Mayor George Brown, (D) Wilkes-Barre.
Brown says the road will take days and maybe even weeks to repair. Horton street will remain closed between Carey Avenue and Barney Street until further notice.
