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Sinkhole in Saint-Jude Quebec Swallows House, Family of 4

by Amy Judd | May 11, 2010 at 09:03 am

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A Family of Four is Missing After Their House Was Swallowed by a Sinkhole in Saint-Jude Quebec

Update: May 11 - Family of Four Found Dead

Update: 12:24 pm PST

The family dog has been discovered in the giant sinkhole, mud-caked but alive. There is still no sign of the family however.

Previous Story Already Posted:

Saint-Jude is a small town of about 1,000 people in Quebec, and according to CBC News, around 9:30pm on Monday May 10, a sinkhole formed in the ground and swallowed a house with the family of four still inside. They are still missing. The parents are in their 40s with two children, aged nine and 11.

Due to the remote location of the town and the house, firefighters were not able to reach the home until Tuesday May 11, about 12 hours after the event happened. The authorities were only alerted to the incident because a a driver was passing through that area and his truck fell in to the hole. He managed to escape with just minor injuries.

When the firefighters arrived, they saw the family's vehicles parked outside where the house was, so they believe the family was home at the time. The ground is still too unstable for the firefighters to even reach the collapsed house. No movement has been seen from inside the house or around it.

We tried to reach them by phone, because the father always wears his cellphone on him," McKinnis told CBC. "The firefighters heard the cellphone, but they weren't able to [locate] it.

The Mayor of Saint-Jude, Yves de Bellefeuille told CBC:

It was dark, and we couldn't see well, but we could see the house at the bottom of the crater." Police said the sinkhole is at least nine metres deep, de Bellefeuille told CBC's French-language service.

The community of only 1,000 is in shock at what has happened and are also concerned that more sinkholes could develop. Families have been evacuated and Geologists are looking at how stable the ground is at this time.

A sinkhole occurs when soil or bedrock is removed by water underneath and the ground collapses. They can take time to develop or they can be sudden.

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anarkissed

at 10:45 on May 11th, 2010

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/05/11/quebec-landslide.htmlUpper right corner has a very good news video about this. Searchers have now combed the main and upper storey of the house without luck. The father's cell phone, which he always takes with him, was phoned and heard ringing from the house. They figure that the family was most likely in their basement family room watching hockey last night at the time of the landslide, but as the basement is well buried in mud it will be much more difficult to search there. The family dog made it out of the mud, coming to the surface coated in the stuff. By this news I think the only hope left is that some part of the home has sheltered this family and left them a small area to breath and kept them from being crushed. If the dog could make it out, and dogs are usually right by their family on TV night, then maybe the family are alive down there and waiting rescue.Rescue efforts continue throughout today.

anarkissed

at 10:47 on May 11th, 2010

Image gallery here: http://www.montrealgazette.com/Gallery+Sinkhole+Jude/3013247/story.html

Amy Judd

at 11:26 on May 11th, 2010

Thanks for the updates.

anarkissed

at 19:47 on May 11th, 2010

They went in today with heavy equipment and tore the upper part of the house apart, locating the family who did not survive. They had indeed been on the couch together watching the game, and their dog who survived had been tied up outside.

Sad news.

ac (not verified)

at 21:51 on June 5th, 2010

if they didnt suffer i think is a neat way to go, all together, happy, of natural causes.

Beaulieu

at 15:54 on June 24th, 2010

I read this in Wiki, although citations are needed, the US appears to have loads of sinkholes:

"In the United States, the most damage from sinkholes tends to occur in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania[citation needed]. Palmyra, Pennsylvania is the sinkhole capital of the United States[citation needed]."