NEW YORK • New Yorkers living in the borough of Brooklyn woke to a strange sight this week - a giant sinkhole had swallowed an enormous chunk of road. The sinkhole, formed by the natural process of erosion, appeared shortly after 7am on Tuesday at an intersection in the neighbourhood of Sunset Park, according to the fire department.

The hole exposed torn pipes and crushed asphalt at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 64th Street.

Sinkholes can be gradual but are often sudden. In South Korea in February, a couple was lucky to escape serious injury when a 3m deep hole opened up under them as they walked on a footpath.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE