A sinkhole that swallowed a delivery truck over the weekend has continued to grow, prompting local Mexico City authorities to begin relocating families in nearby houses.

The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon when the back wheels of a Jarritos soft drink truck got stuck in a large pothole on a residential street in the borough of Iztapalapa. The weight of the truck soon caused the pothole to widen and police quickly cordoned off the street.

While officials waited for a tow truck to arrive, the pothole began to collapse and the back end of the truck sank deeper. Then, the pit suddenly widened and the truck nearly disappeared down the hole, only the front end sticking out of the 8-meter deep crater.

A 20-hour rescue effort utilizing a 20-tonne crane, a 40-tonne crane and a backhoe finally resulted in the removal of the Jarritos truck on Sunday. An inspection then revealed that a 2.44-meter concrete water collector under the street had collapsed, either causing the original sinkhole or contributing to its rapid expansion.

While authorities addressed the situation on Monday, it was discovered that overnight rains were causing the sinkhole — initially measured at 8 meters deep, 12 meters long and 7 meters wide — to expand.

As a result, at least eight families living near the sinkhole have been asked to leave the immediate vicinity while authorities sought to resolve the widening crisis.

The mayor’s office said 20 people and three pets were being housed at a temporary shelter while the remaining families opted to move in with relatives.

The sinkhole incident occurred three days after a gas tanker explosion in another Iztapalapa neighborhood killed 14 people. 

There was considerable speculation following the accident that a series of potholes caused the tanker to tip over before it exploded, with one newspaper citing an alleged eyewitness.

Mexico City investigators quickly denied the suggestions that potholes contributed to the tragedy, but TV news anchor Manuel López San Martín took to his radio show to report that local authorities repaved the road just hours after the accident. According to Bertha Alcalde Luján, attorney general of Mexico City, the city cleared the affected area of the road but “there was no subsequent paving of this part of the route.”

With reports from El Financiero, El Universal, Uno TV, Excelsior and N+