SEFFNER, Florida (Reuters) – A second sinkhole appeared in the Tampa area on Monday, just miles from one that opened beneath a home last week and swallowed a man from his bed, though the latest one appeared not to pose immediate danger, police said.
The latest sinkhole opened between two homes and was about 12-feet round, 3 feet deep around the edge and about 5 feet deep in the center, said Hillsborough County spokesman Willie Puz.
He said the latest sinkhole appears to be unrelated to the one that opened last Thursday under the home of 37-year-old Jeff Bush.
“It is not geologically connected,” Puz said.
Bush disappeared into the hole that opened up under his bedroom on Thursday night. The other occupants of the house, which is owned by the family of Jeremy Bush‘s fiancee, had been preparing for bed when they heard a loud crash and Jeff Bush screaming.
The hole was about 30 feet wide and 60 feet deep and filled with clay and debris. It is unlikely that Bush’s body will ever be retrieved, officials said.
On Monday, demolition crews returned to Bush’s home to demolish the rest of the house before efforts will begin to stabilize the sinkhole.