ROME (AP) — A giant sinkhole has opened in the parking lot of a Naples, Italy hospital.
Hospital operations weren’t affected but the sinkhole forced the temporary closure of a nearby residence for recovering COVID-19 patients because utilities were cut off.
The sinkhole consumed three cars in the hospital’s otherwise empty visitors’ parking lot. Firefighters said it didn’t appear anyone was injured.
TOPSHOT – A aerial view shows a sinkhole in the Ospedale del Mare hospital car park, where people come for Covid-19 testing, on the outskirts of the city of Naples, after the ground collapsed early on January 8, 2021, destroying some vehicle. (Photo by CIRO FUSCO / ANSA / AFP) / Italy OUT (Photo by CIRO FUSCO/ANSA/AFP via Getty Images) 
A aerial view shows a sinkhole in the Ospedale del Mare hospital car park, where people come for Covid-19 testing, on the outskirts of the city of Naples, after the ground collapsed early on January 8, 2021, destroying some vehicle. (Photo by CIRO FUSCO / ANSA / AFP) / Italy OUT (Photo by CIRO FUSCO/ANSA/AFP via Getty Images)
The local hospital district said the 66-foot-deep, 21,527-square-foot sinkhole opened at dawn Friday. At the time, six people were recovering at the residence for COVID-19 patients. They have been relocated.
The regional governor says the residence will reopen once electricity and water service are restored. Backup systems allowed care at the hospital to continue.
