Demolition crews continued to tear down a Florida home Sunday, where a man is presumed dead after being swallowed by a huge sinkhole three days ago.
Rescue crews called off the search for 37-year-old Jeff Bush on Saturday night. Bush was inside the house, along with four others, when the sinkhole opened underneath his room.
The 20-foot-wide opening of the sinkhole was covered by the house in Seffner, about 24 kilometres east of Tampa, and rescuers said there were no signs of life since the sinkhole opened on Thursday night.
By Sunday morning heavy machinery was moved into position to begin demolishing the house.
Jeff Bush’s brother, Jeremy, was brought to the scene early Sunday where he moved flowers from a makeshift memorial to another location and then knelt in prayer.
Jeremy Bush jumped into the sinkhole to try and rescue his brother, but he had to be rescued himself.
Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill said officials had spoken to the Bush family on Sunday and crews at the scene would try their best to move the structure forward, toward the street, so the family can retrieve some of their belongings.
"We don't know, in fact, whether it will collapse or whether it will hold up," Merrill said.
He added that demolition crews were attempting to knock down the house by Sunday, and on Monday they will clear as much debris as possible to allow officials and engineers to see the sinkhole in the open.
Engineers probing the sinkhole had earlier warned that the entire house could succumb to the shifting ground.
Two nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution.
Florida is prone to sinkholes because of large caverns of limestone below ground, which easily dissolve in water. More than 500 have been reported in Hillsborough County alone since 1954.
However, while past sinkholes have swallowed up cars, homes, swimming pools and other buildings, it’s extremely rare for a person to be swallowed by one.
With files from The Associated Press
