Massive Sinkhole Opens On Hollywood Boulevard Workers Flee Subway Tunnel As Ground Begins Collapsing

A huge sinkhole opened up Thursday on Hollywood Boulevard above part of the city’s troubled multibillion-dollar subway project, pouring water and mud on workers who scrambled to safety.

Nobody was injured, but about 20 workers fled the tunnel when the ground above began collapsing at about 6:15 a.m., about three hours after a 10-inch water main broke, said Gary Davy, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Surging water filled the gaping hole and then, like a giant drain, carried loose soil and muck to the bottom.

“Where I was standing, the sidewalk had buckled and it lifted me up like a teeter-totter,” said Carlos Mancilla, who was walking down the street.

The hole had grown to about 70 feet in diameter by afternoon. The bottom, in the subway tunnel 60 feet below, was a lake of muddy brown water.

Davy said it was not immediately clear if burrowing for the Metro Rail Red Line was responsible for the sinkhole, although construction flaws were blamed for a hole that threatened businesses last year.

Power and gas to the area were knocked out and telephone service to about 3,000 people was disrupted. Up to 100 people were evacuated from two medical buildings near the hole.

The subway was 4 1/2 months behind schedule and the new damage was expected to add another two months to the delay, MTA officials said.

The Metro Rail tunneling through Hollywood, part of a $5.5 billion project, has been plagued by sinkage that has caused delays, and damaged buildings and stars on the Walk of Fame.