Sinkhole in Breda, the Netherlands: residents without water after main break

    

A water main break in Breda flooded streets and left area residents without water Sunday, utility firm Brabant Water announced. The break caused a sinkhole on Haagweg, leading the company to send repair crews to the scene.

A traffic detour was set up around Haagweg, to give water crews room to work.

The incident began at about 5 a.m. The area around Haagweg and Gooren, a street 150 meters east of there, is without water until about 8 p.m., the company said less than two hours later.

Residents and businesses in need of water were told to visit a distribution point at Verbeetenstraat 2, where they could bring buckets, bottles and gas cans to collect as much water as they could carry.

Those with tankless water heaters were advised to extinguish the pilot light and shut the gas off to the device. Once the water is restored, it could be brown in color. Anyone with brown water should let their water taps run until the liquid is clear, Brabant Water said.

[embedded content]