- The Washington Times - Monday, August 12, 2013

A massive sinkhole at a Florida resort community outside Disney World has sucked in and collapsed a three-story building, and firefighters were scrambling on Monday to contain the damage.

Nobody was injured and all were accounted for, emergency responders said.

NBC reported that building occupants said they felt shaking and fled right before midnight on Sunday. Emergency responders from Lake County Fire Rescue arrived at the scene just as the building — at the Summer Bay Resort, near Clermont — started to fall.

“The building on the west side … a portion of that structure just collapses,” said Lake County Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Special Operations Tony Cuellar, in NBC. “It’s literally breaking in half.”

The sinkhole ultimately spread 40 feet. It’s located underneath a central elevator shaft, near two apartment units.

The elevator building was tilting “about 30 or 40 degrees,” Chief Cuellar said.

• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.

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