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Truck Pulled From Sinkhole In San Francisco's SoMa

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – All lanes are now open on Seventh Street between Townsend and Brannan streets in San Francisco after a sinkhole opened up early Friday morning, a San Francisco Public Utilities Commission spokeswoman said.

Seventh Street was closed for hours between those two streets as crews worked to fill in a sinkhole that earlier swallowed up a truck, according to Betsy Lauppe Rhodes, a spokeswoman for the SFPUC.

The incident happened at around 5:30 a.m. Friday morning, the driver told KPIX 5.

 

The driver said as the vehicle was sinking, he had to wait for the truck to stop before he could escape.

"When I stopped, I felt the truck falling towards the right side, sinking in slow motion," the driver explained. "I took off my seatbelt and jumped from the door."

The truck driver said he was relieved no one was hurt in the incident. He said he also got the day off work after the ordeal.

The truck was pulled from the sinkhole by a tow truck by around 9:30 a.m.

There is an inactive 8-inch sewer main underneath the sinkhole, but the cause of the collapse won't be known until crews start an investigation after removing the truck, said Rhodes.

The fire department estimated the sinkhole is 15 feet by 10 feet in size.

7th Street remained closed as SF Water crews investigated the cause. At around 1 p.m., the street opened in the northbound direction only.

Traffic was reopened in both directions by about 4:26 p.m.

TM and © Copyright 2017 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

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