Florida Man Swallowed By Sinkhole Feared Dead

FILE – This undated photo provided by Jeremy Bush shows Jeff Bush. Jeremy Bush heard a loud crash and screaming coming from his brother’s room early Thursday, March 1, 2013 in Seffner, Fla. A large sinkhole opened under Jeff’s bedroom and he disappeared together with most of the bedroom furniture. Jeremy jumped into the hole and was quickly up to his neck in dirt. Jeff is presumed dead. (AP Photo/Jeremy Bush, HO)

A man feared dead after he was swallowed by a sinkhole in his suburban Tampa home in Seffner, Florida.

Reuters reported that Jeff Bush, 37, was in his bedroom Thursday night when the sinkhole suddenly swallowed him and the entire bedroom into the ground.

The sinkhole was estimated 20 feet across and 20 feet deep.

It caused the home’s concrete floor to cave in around 11 p.m. Thursday.

Fortunately five other people in the house were unharmed.

Bush’s brother Jeremy Bush jumped into the hole and tried to dig to find his brother but he could not find him.

He was rescued by Douglas Duvall of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office who pulled him out from the sinkhole.

The sinkhole is slowly growing and it was feared that the entire house could eventually falls into the unstable ground.

Engineers said the house may have to be demolished, even though from the outside the house seems to be alright.

They took soil samples and ran various tests and found that the entire lot was dangerous.

Reuters reported that,”Authorities had not detected any signs of life after lowering listening devices and cameras into the hole and rescue efforts were suspended after the site was deemed too unsafe for emergency personnel to enter”.

Two adjacent houses were evacuated and officials were considering further evacuations.

“This is not your typical sinkhole,” said Hillsborough County administrator Mike Merrill.

Florida is highly prone to sinkholes because there are caverns below ground of limestone, a porous rock that easily dissolves in water.

This is a disaster.

But when it happens away from buildings and roads, it could turn out to be nice and beautiful places after a long time; please click here for ‘Photos: Amazing Sinkholes Around The World’.

(Please click the photos for larger images)

A crew member from the Hillsborough County Public Works Department sends a special pipe camera down a drain within the secured area surrounding a home where a sinkhole opened up and swallowed a man in Seffner, Florida, March 1, 2013. The 36-year-old Florida man was feared dead on Friday after the sinkhole suddenly opened beneath the bedroom of his suburban Tampa home swallowing him, police and fire officials said. Rescuers responded to a 911 call late on Thursday after the man’s family reported hearing a loud crash in the house and rushed to his bedroom. REUTERS/Brian Blanco

Jeremy Bush, brother of Jeff Bush, breaks down as he speaks to the media about attempting to rescue Jeff as he disappeared in a sinkhole Friday, March 1, 2013, in Seffner, Fla. Jeff Bush screamed for help and disappeared as a large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of the house, his brother said Friday. Jeremy Bush told rescue crews he heard a loud crash near midnight Thursday, then heard his brother screaming. There’s been no contact with Jeff Bush since then, and neighbors on both sides of the home have been evacuated. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

Family members console each other near the home where Jeff Bush disappeared as a large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of his house on Friday, March 1, 2013, in Seffner, Fla. Jeremy Bush told rescue crews he heard a loud crash near midnight Thursday, then heard his brother screaming. There’s been no contact with Jeff Bush since then, and neighbors on both sides of the home have been evacuated. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

An engineer surveys in front of a home where sinkhole opened up on Friday, March 1, 2013, in Seffner, Fla. A man screamed for help and disappeared as a large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of the house, his brother said Friday. The brother told rescue crews he heard a loud crash near midnight Thursday, then heard his brother screaming. The brother called police and frantically tried to help. An arriving deputy pulled him from the still-collapsing house. There’s been no contact with the man since then, and neighbors on both sides of the home have been evacuated. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara

Family members console each other near the home where Jeff Bush disappeared as a large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of his house on Friday, March 1, 2013, in Seffner, Fla. Jeremy Bush told rescue crews he heard a loud crash near midnight Thursday, then heard his brother screaming. There’s been no contact with Jeff Bush since then, and neighbors on both sides of the home have been evacuated. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

Engineers work in front of a home where sinkhole opened up underneath a bedroom and swallowed a man Friday, March 1, 2013, in Seffner, Fla. Jeff Bush screamed for help and disappeared as a large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of his house, his brother said Friday. Jeremy Bush told rescue crews he heard a loud crash near midnight Thursday, then heard his brother screaming. There’s been no contact with Jeff Bush since then, and neighbors on both sides of the home have been evacuated. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)