The last thing Kia Long-Gyant was expecting was to fall through a 15-foot sinkhole in the parking lot of Frank Myers Auto Maxx. | PxHere.com
The last thing Kia Long-Gyant was expecting was to fall through a 15-foot sinkhole in the parking lot of Frank Myers Auto Maxx. | PxHere.com
Kia Long-Gyant thought getting her car detailed would be a fairly simple task, but fate had other ideas in mind for her.
After she showed up at the Frank Myers Auto Maxx dealership in Winston-Salem, a sinkhole opened underneath her feet and swallowed her up.
“I pulled into the parking lot, got out, went into the building, came out with the salesperson and the ground collapsed beneath me,” Long-Gyant told WRAL News.
The gaping hole was about 15 feet wide and 8 feet deep. Firefighters were called to extract her from the hole safely. Despite the depth of the hole, she made it through the ordeal with scrapes and bruises, but no broken bones.
The dealership owner, Tracy Myers, said officials haven’t yet identified the cause, but one of the most common reasons for sinkholes is that underground pipes have collapsed.
“I've seen sinkholes on movies and television shows but never here and never here in Winston-Salem,” Myers told WRAL News. “Obviously, they do happen. The fire department told us that they're fairly common.” Still, she never thought it would happen in the middle of a business parking lot.
Long-Gyant says she’ll likely consult a lawyer and said she is hoping someone takes responsibility.
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