Close call for man as sink hole swallows garden
A MAN has told how he cheated death after a 70ft-deep sinkhole appeared outside his front door. Harri Chadha had just moved away when a giant cavern suddenly opened up where he was standing.
The 15ft-wide hole swallowed up Mr Chadha’s path and front garden outside his home in Haden Arch Court, Halesowen. The fashion photographer said: “I must have done something good somewhere because I really should be dead. I had just been standing on the path after closing my front door moments before the earth collapsed in on itself.
“Literally seconds earlier and I would have been a goner for certain. The sinkhole was 70ft deep, I don’t think they would have ever found my body. What scared me was the gas gushing out of the hole, but initially I was still told it was OK to stay there that night.”
Mr Chadha moved into his leasehold property 13 years ago and is now in temporary rented accommodation.
He added: “I’ve had to move into a rented property because this is going to take months to sort out. The other residents have been so kind to me, far more than the management company have been. They haven’t even asked me how I’m doing.”
The hole is thought to have been caused by underground sewerage pipes collapsing as a result of building work elsewhere carried out without permission. Gas pipes were damaged in the collapse, leading firefighters to order an immediate evacuation. Mr Chadha and seven other residents were ordered out of their homes after the sinkhole emerged on November 20.
Eight residents have yet to be allowed back to their properties. The hole is being filled in with another excavation to collect water which is being pumped into a nearby river.