A car and a pickup truck are seen inside a sinkhole as another storm created by a series of atmospheric rivers inundates California (Picture: Getty Images)
A mother and her daughter dropped into a massive sinkhole while driving in the powerful California – and were rescued in a risky operation.
Two vehicles plunged into the 15-foot-deep sinkhole that opened around 7.20pm on Monday in Chatsworth, a suburban neighborhood in Los Angeles, California.
The mother reportedly did not see the sinkhole while driving home with her daughter on the 11000 block of Iverson Road, and their vehicle fell in.
Shortly after, a pickup truck with two occupants fell in on top of them. The two people in the truck were able to climb out before firefighters arrived and were not hurt.
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But the mother and teenage daughter were trapped under the truck and unable to escape by themselves.
About 50 firefighters engaged in the rescue operation. It ‘involved bringing ground ladders and laying them down to span the hole so crews could try to reach the victims but this was not successful,’ stated the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The road continued to slough and firefighters tried to stabilize the vehicle but it kept shifting and rolling in the sinkhole.
A sinkhole formed in Chatsworth, California, on Monday evening (Picture: Reuters)
‘With the entire road compromised, firefighters had to make an immediate rescue to save the lives of the two people trapped,’ the fire department stated.
Rescue crews positioned an aerial ladder and lowered a firefighter down into the opening to secure and hoist out the daughter and the mother, separately.
They both suffered minor injuries and were taken to a hospital to be evaluated.
The powerful storm in California has led to at least 14 deaths (Picture: AP)
Meanwhile, the vehicles on Tuesday were struck feet deeper in the mud. The sinkhole affected surrounding traffic.
‘More water has been flowing down from the street and was filling the hole, and as you can see, there’s a part of the street itself that’s a large chunk of debris that’s already separated and cracked, and the way this has gone is this car is continuing to sink and roll,’ Los Angeles Fire Battalion Chief Andrew Wordlin told CBS News.
The storm has killed at least 14 people across the state and caused thousands to evacuate including residents of Montecito, where Prince Harry and Meghan live.
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Rescue crews pulled the mother and daughter out of the sinkhole in a risky operation.