Insane stuff out of Pennsylvania this week:
A grandmother looking for her lost cat apparently fell into a sinkhole that had recently opened above an abandoned western Pennsylvania coal mine and rescuers worked late into the night Tuesday to try and find her.
Bright lights illuminated snow flurries and various equipment at the site while crews worked above and below ground...
This sinkhole is no joke, folks:
Rescue crews spotted what appeared to be a shoe in the hole about 30 feet down, though there is no definitive sign yet that the woman herself fell into it.
Authorities, meanwhile, have been working to enlarge the hole as part of the rescue effort:
Searchers have been "using access to a mine to try to find her and had dug a separate entrance out of concern that the ground around the sinkhole opening was not stable." They say the fact that Pollard has not been located may be a good sign as she may have been able to get into a wider mine shaft. They have been pumping oxygen into the hole to try and assist her if she is still alive.
Police noted that "sinkholes [in the region] are not uncommon because of subsidence from coal mining activity in the area."
More from the AP:
Rescuers worked through the night and on Wednesday.
Police say Elizabeth Pollard's relatives called police at about 1 a.m. Tuesday to say she hadn't been seen since Monday evening when she went to search for her cat. They found Pollard's 5-year-old granddaughter in her parked car near the manhole-sized opening.
Prayers that she's found safe.
Here's a local news report:
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