Water main break causes sinkhole to form in Northeast Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- An 8-inch water main break caused a large sinkhole to form in Northeast Philadelphia Friday morning, officials said.

Chopper 6 flew over the sinkhole, near Fordham and Puritan roads, at about 9:30 a.m. Crews said they originally got the emergency alert at 6 a.m.

Video showed the sinkhole filled with water, and the road was seen buckling nearby. A tree was also leaning as the hole expanded toward a sidewalk.

"You could just hear chucks of the street falling every 10 to 20 minutes. I mean, big chucks," said Tricia Harvey, of Northeast Philadelphia.

About 35 homes were without water due to the water main break.

"It is scary because you do not know what is going to happen. I had to miss work today because I had no water," said Jerry Olkowski, who lives nearby.

The sinkhole was unexpected and frightening, but the community is thankful there were no injuries.

"It is just the luck of the draw that no one was here and what time it was done. If it was during the day and there were lots of kids out here, it could have been really bad," said Harvey.

The water department is investigating what caused the water main break and is working to make the necessary repairs.