A major incident was declared in Shropshire after a catastrophic sinkhole opened up on a canal in the dead of night, swallowing narrowboats with people sleeping on board.
Chaos in the Early Hours
The terrifying incident occurred at around 4:20am on the Llangollen Canal in Whitchurch, Shropshire. A section of the canal bank, approximately 18 yards from moored boats, suddenly gave way, creating a vast sinkhole that drained the waterway.
Footage of the chaos, which has been viewed over 131,000 times, was captured by Paul Smith-Storey, who runs the Narrowboat Life Unlocked YouTube channel. He was woken by loud crashing noises. "We have just heard a crash, it woke us both up," he can be heard saying in the video taken in the immediate aftermath.
Narrowboats Tipped Into the Abyss
Among those caught in the disaster was 75-year-old Bob Wood. He was asleep on his boat when it was pulled towards the collapsing bank. "I thought I needed to go to the toilet so I got up and thought 'we're leaning a bit'," Mr Wood recounted.
He opened the back door to investigate. "I realised it was not raining at all and it was the water running away under the boat," he said. Acting quickly, he jumped onto the stern just as that section of the canal fell away. "The back went eight feet in the air and I landed on my front," he described.
Mr Wood then scrambled onto the nearest boat and began bashing its sides to alert the sleeping occupants. He told MailOnline: "He got out really quickly and his boat went down as well. My boat went nose down and his went stern first."
In total, two narrowboats fell into the sinkhole, coming to rest at the bottom, while another was left teetering precariously on the edge. The collapse sent a torrent of water rushing across the surrounding land.
Emergency Response and Miraculous Escape
Emergency services, including Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, rushed to the scene. A spokesperson said crews faced "challenging conditions with unstable ground and rapidly moving water." They immediately established safety zones and worked to mitigate the water flow using barge boards and water gate systems.
Remarkably, no one was injured in the dramatic event. Liberal Democrat Councillor Sho Abdul called it an "absolute miracle."
"I just want to thank the fire service, police and the River and Canal Trust for everything they have done this morning," Cllr Abdul said. "They have been fantastic at securing the area and making sure nobody was hurt. We were so shocked to see it - it was like an explosive had gone off."
The cause of the sinkhole is now under investigation, with authorities working to secure the area and assess the full extent of the damage to the historic canal.
