An ordinary family outing turned to terror after a huge sinkhole opened up in the middle of a mountain road and swallowed two cars.
Brian and Angel Richardson were driving in Lowell, Vermont, US, early on Saturday morning after picking up their son, Alex, from the airport, when the roadway caved in.
Reports said their two vehicles fell five feet straight down, but the Richardsons managed to climb out to safety just before the ground gave way and their cars sank another 20 feet.
Once the parents and their son were back on solid ground, water, rocks and dirt showered down on their stranded vehicles and the sinkhole deepened.
The sinkhole was apparently caused by a flash flood, which was too violent for a five-foot plastic culvert installed in the road last year to handle.
As a result, the conduit uprooted and the asphalt on top gave way, opening into a sinkhole 30 feet wide and about 25 feet deep.
Angel didn't see the washout because it was dark and raining at the time, and drove into the abyss that opened in the middle of the roadway.
Her husband managed to turn the wheel of his car just in time so it wouldn't land on top of his wife's.
Incredibly, the family managed to escape with little more than bumps, bruises and a broken arm.