Cape Town driver escapes death as sinkhole swallows her car

© Ayesha Parker

A Parow woman narrowly escaped death when her car became engulfed by a sinkhole in Low Road, Wetton on 1 November 2014.

Cape Town - A Parow woman narrowly escaped death when her car became engulfed by a sinkhole in Low Road, Wetton.

Cape Town local Ayesha Parker was driving home one evening when she suddenly felt the road collapse underneath her. The next moment, her car had sunk deep into the earth and all that surrounded her was gravel.

"I was in a hole and I didn't know I was in a hole. The hole covered the entire car right up to the roof. I was terrified."

A couple, who had witnessed the incident, rushed to Parker's rescue by bravely pulling her out of her car to safety.

"They saw the car disappear into the ground. They just told me to get out immediately. I stood on my seat and they dragged me to safety. As they did that, the car sunk further and immediately started to fill with water."

© Ayesha Parker

Mayoral Committee member for Utility Services Ernest Sonnenberg says an investigation shows that a water main had burst which caused a hole to develop. The earth then gradually seeped into it.

The road that was covered by the tar had eventually weakened to the point that it fell into the hole that had been building up for a while.

Sonnenberg says although incidents like this rarely happen in Cape Town, he apologised to Parker who says she is still traumatised by the experience.

He says Parker has to lodge an insurance claim with the City of Cape Town to replace her car.

© Ayesha Parker

Comment: While this sinkhole may have been caused by a broken water main, which is common explanation for sinkholes, but something is off, in that the sinkhole phenomena has risen dramatically in the last 10 years. SOTT.net has been following reports since this new generation of sinkholes started opening up in increasing frequency. Here's a look at the last 5 years of sinkhole reports gathered on SOTT.

See : Earth Changes and the Human Cosmic Connection for clues on what may be the probable trigger of this and other earth change phenomena happening all around us.