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Massive sinkhole swallows Illinois soccer field after mine collapses, official says
A park in Alton, Illinois, was closed after a massive sinkhole swallowed part of its soccer field Wednesday morning.
Security footage obtained by CBS affiliate KMOV shows the moment the sinkhole opened up at Gordon Moore Park. It shows a stadium light sinking and plumes of debris billowing into the air.
“It was surreal,” Michael Haynes, the director of the city’s parks and recreation department, told the station. “Kind of like a movie where the ground just falls out from underneath you.”
Footage captured by 618 Drone Service shows the large hole, which is estimated to be at least 30 feet deep and 100 feet wide.
The collapse is thought to be a result of a working mine, Hayes told KMOV. No injuries were reported.
“The mines have been here and in this area for decades and decades,” Haynes said. “It’s never been brought up before so I’m told it’s an anomaly. We’ll wait until the investigation is complete.”
The turf fields where the collapse happened were added to the park in 2019, Haynes told the station, costing over $1 million. He didn’t expect the city to have to pay for repairs.
All scheduled events were canceled and Gordon Moore Park was closed “while the sinkhole investigation is being completed,” Alton Parks and Recreation said on social media.
The New Frontier Materials company told KMOV that the impacted area was secured and will be off-limits while inspectors and experts examine the mine and conduct repairs.
The city of Alton, Illinois, is located about 18 miles north of St. Louis, Missouri.
CBS News has reached out to the New Frontier Materials company and the city of Alton for more information.
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Topeka, Kansas — When Angelica Chernytska and her mother Larysa left war-torn Ukraine earlier this year, they never expected Topeka, Kansas, would quickly feel like home.
“I was overwhelmed, that is how I can describe my feelings,” Angelica told CBS News.
That’s because the people of this Midwestern city have created a modern-day welcome wagon.
“It’s very rewarding to see the children thrive in school, not afraid of sirens,” said Yana Ross, president of the nonprofit group Top City Promise.
Ross, who immigrated from Ukraine herself, started the volunteer group to help new immigrants, mostly Ukrainians so far, with almost all expenses for three months, including a place to live.
Larysa said she “was overwhelmed” to walk into a fully furnished apartment the day after she arrived in Topeka.
What is unique is how the group has partnered with the community to ensure the immigrants have more than just a roof over their heads. A Latter-day Saints church welcomes the newcomers to pick up free food, while a Catholic church stores donations that furnish the homes.
Topeka Public Schools has gone as far as hiring a director of cultural innovation, Dr. Pilar Mejía, who helps ease the transition for children.
“We need to strengthen our community from the ground up, and it starts with the children, and so we need to make sure that everybody feels like they’re important,” Mejía said. “They are seen, they are welcomed.”
Topeka Public Schools now has an international flair. In the district of almost 13,000, Ukrainian and Spanish are the most common languages after English. More than 200 refugees have benefitted from the program and the helping hand extends to all nationalities.
Lisbeth Amador came from Nicaragua with her husband and 6-year-old daughter Sury. The couple have jobs, a car and a good school for Sury.
“I love it,” Amador says of her family’s new home. “…It’s different, my life here.”
The cost of welcoming a family can range anywhere from $300 to $10,000 depending on needs. Top City Promise relies on fundraising and the big hearts of the people who call Topeka home.
“Community is what makes Topeka different, because of the desire of the Topeka community to help, to help them to be successful,” Ross said.
