Yahoo Finance Farmer 'swallowed up' by 60ft sinkhole while riding his quad bike
A farmer was "swallowed" by a 60ft sinkhole as he rode his quad bike through a field.
The man had to be helicoptered to hospital after rescue teams managed to pull him out of the 18 metre-deep hole.
Rescuers said that the ground caved in as the man rode across a field at Bowesfield Farm in Stank, south Cumbria.
Ian Westall of Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service said in a statement: "The ground just fell away with the weight of the bike on that particular spot and he was swallowed up into the sinkhole."
The farmer was flown to hospital and was still being treated for chest injuries on Friday.
Westall added: "We peered down and could see the farmer sat up, and we could just make out the outline of his bike under a mound of earth. I'm sure he was in deep shock."
The opening was about 8ft (2m) wide at the top but below that opened up "like a wine carafe", which posed additional risk to rescuers, Westall said.
"You've got a lip at the top which went down into a narrow throat, and then there was a large bulbous bottom which opened up 10m (33ft) in one direction and 4m (13ft) in the other.
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"Obviously, with unstable ground and people on the surface unsighted, there was an inherent risk.
"We had to make sure the rescuers weren't going to be involved in any further movement or collapse of the ground, so we widened the cordon area and had only those directly involved in the rescue at the scene."
A sinkhole, also known as a cenote, swallow hole, or doline is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer.
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