Photo: A car with a child ended up buried under the asphalt on Bilytska Street in Kyiv
On Bilytska Street in Kyiv, a sinkhole formed right in the middle of the roadway due to a leak in the water supply network. One of the cars fell into the hole; a child was inside. Specialists from Kyivvodokanal have already contained the leak, but repair work has not yet begun, and traffic in the area has been restricted.
The company’s specialists have already contained the leak; traffic on the street is currently restricted.
A major accident involving the water supply network in Kyiv’s Podilskyi District resulted in a passenger car ending up underground. A woman was behind the wheel, on her way to a kindergarten with her child. Seeing that the road was flooded with water due to a utility line rupture, the driver noticed two white barrier blocks.
“There was a sign on those white blocks that said ‘Detour to the right along the road,’ so I drove that way, trusting the signs, even though there was a puddle there,” the victim said. Visually, the section didn’t look deep, so she didn’t consider it dangerous to drive through.
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But as soon as the car drove into the water, the road surface gave way. “I immediately felt the car tilt. The asphalt gave way under the front wheels, and the car immediately began to sink there on the right side,” the Kyiv resident recalled.
Attempts to reverse proved futile. Realizing the danger, the woman immediately got out of the car.
“I quickly jumped out of the car and pulled my child out. The car was already in the water. My feet were wet, but we managed to get out unharmed,” she added.
The car is beyond repair because the woman was primarily concerned with saving her child, and the engine remained running.
The woman explained: “The car was running when it went into the water. I tried to turn it off, but my priority was to get out, especially since I had a small child with me.”
One of the passersby who rushed to help claimed that he was able to turn off the ignition, but by that point the engine had already been completely submerged. Three-quarters of the vehicle’s front end had sunk into the ground; only the upper parts of the wheels, partially submerged, were visible above the water’s surface.
The car owner was particularly outraged by the response from the relevant emergency services. According to her, the police arrived at the scene about 40 minutes after the call, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations rescue team arrived only an hour later. The driver is certain that with a prompt response within the first 10–15 minutes, the vehicle could have been saved; instead, she had to simply watch it sink. At the same time, water utility workers arrived at the scene of the emergency very quickly.
“Kyivvodokanal arrived at the scene immediately, but for some reason they removed the signs—specifically, the detour sign that was there,” the victim emphasized.
Local residents note that the problem at this location is systemic. According to residents of the area, over the past two months they have regularly complained about water issues and the condition of the asphalt.
“Residents say that last winter, six people—also in their cars—fell through the ice at this very spot,” the driver concluded.
Specialized equipment is expected to arrive on site to tow the car that fell into the sinkhole. After that, repair crews will be able to begin work on the water supply network.
Source: Kyiv Patrol Police, Kyiv City State Administration
As a reminder, a morning traffic accident in Kyiv claimed the lives of a woman and a child.
Earlier, a community head in Donetsk Oblast died in a traffic accident.
As a reminder, the Pryluky City and District Court in Chernihiv Oblast sentenced a former police officer to eight years in prison for a fatal traffic accident that killed a six-year-old child.
In Lviv Oblast, a 68-year-old driver of a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, who was under the influence of alcohol, fatally struck a Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemember. This was reported by the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
