SUV swallowed up in hole along busy road in midtown Atlanta

ATLANTA — Crews are working to repair a large hole that opened up along a busy midtown street, swallowing up the front end of an SUV.

It happened along Ponce de Leon Avenue around 2 p.m. Tuesday, between Myrtle Street and Penn Avenue, near Mary Mac’s Tea Room.

The driver of the white SUV that got swallowed up by the hole told Channel 2′s Elizabeth Rawlins off camera that he was making a right-hand turn in front of Torched Hop Brewing Company when the road collapsed underneath.

When the road caved in, witnesses said they could hear the sound of running water under the car.

“It was like a quick drop,” witness Mercell Mitchell said.

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The driver of the SUV and his wife were not injured and managed to escape with the help of witnesses who ran to help.

“The first thing that came to my mind was to make sure that the people in the vehicle were OK, and they were trapped in the car. So, the driver of the vehicle, we asked him to go around to the back door and then I told the wife to go to the back and then we helped them get out of the vehicle,” Mitchell said.

Many people who were walking by were in shock at the site, including nearby businesses.

Torched Hop Brewing Company posted on Instagram, “We are opening at 4 p.m. unless the sinkhole swallows our building as well.”

“It was a quick drop and a loud sound, like boom,” Mitchell said.

The SUV was removed from the hole shortly before 5 p.m.

In a tweet from Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, he said he was “in close touch with all of our teams” and thanked everyone for their patience as crews continue to repair the hole.

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