The Associated Press reported today that a 50-foot wide, 30-foot deep sinkhole in Sanford, Fla. destroyed a barn, killed a horse, and almost drowned another.

The barn’s owner, Bob Bonwit, came home Thursday night and discovered the sinkhole had engulfed the barn, and that his two horses were at the bottom of the pit, which was rapidly filling with groundwater. One 17-year-old horse drowned before rescue personnel arrived, and rescue efforts were ongoing to remove the 13-year-old horse with a harness.

According to the article, “sinkholes occur when sand beneath the surface begins to erode and falls into underlying limestone cavities, causing the surface to collapse. Several factors may contribute to the collapse, including drought, excessive water pumping, traffic, construction or heavy rains.”

The article can be read at https://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20021115_412.html