The IHOP restaurant located in Frontage Road, Meridian, Mississippi, is closed to the public for now as a massive sinkhole developed on its parking lot. The hole was estimated to be around 50 feet wide and 600 feet long, and it swallowed 15 cars, according to KSLA.
The local broadcasting station also reported that people, who were around the area when the ground opened, heard loud booming sounds and then power went out. The crowd was terrified and thought that it was an earthquake.
As mentioned on ABC News, a man named Noah Mathis who was at the restaurant at that time recounted what happened on Saturday night. "One of the employees ran over to the window and yells 'Earthquake.' Everyone went into a panic."
He further said, "Everything was sudden and quick. They were slamming their forks down from eating and they were sprinting outside as quick as they could."
But fortunately, even if the damage was so great and the place was crowded with customers, no one was reported to have been hurt in the incident.
According to WTOK, the earliest emergency responders arrived at the scene around 7:15 pm. The officials were surprised to see the parking space split open with 15 cars in it. The size of the hole has been judged to be longer than a football field.
"We received a call earlier this evening of a sinkhole opening up at the new IHOP restaurant. Upon arrival, we found multiple vehicles in the ditch. At this time, we are trying to stabilize this and keep everyone away," Wayne Cook, the Meridian Fire Department Chief Battalion, said.
The fire chief also relayed that the incident is going to be investigated and it will begin this Sunday. As of now, they are not discounting the possibility that the ground opened up due to the construction of the newly-built restaurant, or at least it was one factor. In addition, the 13 inches of rain which the city got in the last 3 weeks could be another cause as well.
Although various media are calling the enormous crack as a "sinkhole," Buck Roberts, the Meridian Public Safety Director, told the Meridian Star that the sinking of the ground was not cause by a sinkhole.
"You can call it what you want, a cave-in or whatever. But it is not a sinkhole," he said.
Lastly, Roberts told the media that by Monday, engineers and contractors are going to be summoned to the area so they can figure out the real cause of the collapse.
