A massive, intersection-spanning sinkhole formed in a northern Guatemala City, Guatemala in the aftermath Tropical Storm Agatha. A security guard was killed when the sinkhole opened, according to local newspaper reports. The sinkhole also swallowed a three-story building and a house. Neither of these reports have been confirmed.
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In this photo released by Guatemala's Presidency on Monday May 31, 2010, a sinkhole covers a street intersection in downtown Guatemala City, Monday May 31, 2010. A day earlier authorities blamed the heavy rains caused by tropical storm Agatha as the cause of the crater that swallowed a a three-story building but now say they will be conducting further studies to determine the cause. Last April 2007, another giant sinkhole in the same area killed 3 people. (AP Photo/Guatemala's Presidency, Luis Echeverria
The sinkhole’s formation was attributed to a poorly constructed sewage system. The sinkhole, however, was one of Guatemala’s lesser concerns as mudslides buried civilians, closed roads, collapsed bridges and forced more than 100,000 people to flee their homes.
Tropical Storm Agatha, which hit Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, has killed over 100 people. Agatha’s strength decreased and fell from tropical storm status to tropical depression status Saturday and, by Sunday, lost its depression ranking.
