Brooklyn Sidewalk Caves In, Swallows Woman

NEW YORK (AP) -- A woman out walking was swallowed by the sidewalk when it caved in under her.

The woman, 64, fell into a sinkhole about 5 feet by 2 (1.5 meters by 60 centimeters) feet wide and about 5 feet (1.5 meters) deep in front of a house in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn on Monday.

Firefighters rushed to the woman's aid, using metal hooks to pull concrete chunks off her before strapping her to a stretcher and removing her from the hole.

The woman, who had just picked up her two grandchildren from a nearby dance school and gone to a grocery store, was taken to a hospital Monday evening and was expected to be OK, firefighters said. She chuckled when they commented on how her groceries had spilled into the hole, they said.

The people who live in the house said it appeared the foundation under the sidewalk had been washed away.

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