Hole swallows truck in Citrus County

A 30-foot-deep sinkhole opened in a backyard in Beverly Hills in Citrus County, during an attempt to dig a well.

"I was at work," said homeowner Keith Mannion. "I got the call from Citrus Well Drilling that he had a small problem with a truck in a sink hole."

No one was hurt, but the problem is bigger than he imagined.

The hole is 30-feet deep, and the truck is estimated to be 50,000 pounds.

"I wasn't quite expecting what I came home to," he explained. "I don't believe what I am seeing."

The owners of other well drilling companies came to see what went wrong.  Craig Newton suspected there was a spot underground that didn't have a clay base to support sand that moves during drilling. "It's just something that happens, it's nobody's fault when that happens."

Crews are hoping to pull the truck out with a crane.

"This is the thing you see on TV and never expect to happen to you," Mannion added. "Well, it happened to me."

Workers for Citrus Well Drilling spent the afternoon trying to figure out how to get their truck out.

"They said it all took about 30-seconds," said Mannion. "The ground opened up, swallowed up one truck, and they just got the other one out of the way."

He's glad that's the only problem with what happened Thursday. "Anything can be replaced but a human life. So if they have to get another truck, I hate to put it this way but it is better than having a body at the bottom of the hole."

Mannion says in the 19-years he's lived here, he hasn't had any problems with an unstable ground, until now.

MOBILE APP USERS: Click here for photo gallery