ROME – A giant heatsink opened on Friday in the parking lot of a hospital in Naples, Italy, and forced the closure of a nearby residence to recover COVID-19 patients because public services were cut off.
Operations were not affected at the Hospital del Mar and firefighters said there appeared to be no injuries. The sinkhole consumed three cars in the hospital’s visitor parking lot, which was otherwise empty.
The local hospital district said the 20-foot-deep, 2,000-square-foot (21,527-square-foot) basement opened in the morning. Cmdr fire chief. Ennio Aquilino told Italian TV channel SkyTG 24 that the implosion could have been caused by groundwater infiltration as a result of recent heavy rains.
At that time, six people were recovering in the nursing home for patients with COVID-19. They have been relocated.
Regional Governor Vincenzo De Luca said the residence would reopen a few days after the restoration of the electricity and water service. Both were also interrupted at the hospital, but backup systems allowed further care to continue.
“Frankly, we were also concerned about the collapse of all public services and that the hospital’s activity could be jeopardized,” De Luca said. “Thank God, that didn’t happen. We had a power outage, but the electricity was restored and now we have no problem providing care. ”