An Israeli driver was sucked into a massive sinkhole in the center of the country over the weekend.
By United with Israel Staff
In 2022, Israelis selected as their “word of the year” the term “sinkhole,” a nod to the high-profile incidents in the recent past during which the earth seemed to spontaneously open up, swallowing any humans and objects nearby.
The latest Israeli to experience this phenomenon up close and personal is 70-year-old Chaim Boaron, whose car was sucked into a massive sinkhole in the center of the country over the weekend.
Unfortunately for Boaron, he was in the car when the hole opened up in Hod Hasharon. Remarkably, he was able to escape.
Boaron referred to the outcome as a “miracle” in comments to the Israeli media immediately following the near-catastrophe.
“It sank in a second, [but] I ran away and survived,” Boaron explained to Ynet.
“I was driving the car, I saw a small half-meter hole and then I got scared because there was a flood, and within a second the car sank,” continued Boaron. “Everything happened in an instant. The front wheels fell in. Within 20 seconds…the car sank and sank, if I hadn’t run away I would be inside now.”
Boaron added, “I can’t believe what a great miracle happened to me, a real miracle. A pipe exploded here and my life was miraculously saved, in an instant. [I feel r]eally lucky.”
According to the local water company, the sinkhole opened up due to a ruptured main pipe.
The incident occurred a mere two months after another sinkhole opened in Hod Hasharon in a parking lot of a residential building. That cause of that sinkhole was identified as maintenance work nearby.
In June 2022, a massive sinkhole opened up in Jerusalem, swallowing cars in the parking lot of the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
That was the second such incident during that time period, with a smaller hole opening up in the floor of a Tel Aviv area apartment.
In July 2022, an Israeli was killed when a sinkhole opened up under a swimming pool in Karmei Yosef. In September and November 2022, sinkholes opened up on Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway.
Send 'Warm Winter' Care Packages to Israeli Soldiers - They are Cold!
We are honored to thank the young men and women of the IDF who risk their lives every day to defend the citizens of Israel.
Join us in sending winter care packages and personal notes of support to Israeli soldiers who are out in the cold all day.
Warm up a soldier's heart with essential winter wear including fleece jackets. Keep an entire unit warm by ordering 10 packages... The soldiers truly appreciate your love and concern!