Sinkhole Swallows up an Orlando Condo Building

Sinkhole Swallows up an Orlando Condo Building

Witnesses reported hearing a cracking sound late Sunday at the Summer Bay Resort in Clermont, which suffered structural damage after dropping into a sinkhole.

A sinkhole caused a section of a central Florida resort villa to partially collapse early Monday, while another section of the villa was sinking, authorities said.

About 30 percent of the three-story structure collapsed around 3 a.m. Monday, Lake County Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Tony Cuellar said. The villa at the Summer Bay Resort had already been evacuated and no injuries were reported. Cuellar said authorities were also concerned about another section of the villa, which was sinking.

Monday’s sinkhole, which is in the middle of the villa, is about 40 to 50 feet in diameter, Cuellar said. He said authorities think it was getting deeper but couldn’t tell early Monday if it was growing outward.

he villa houses 24 units and about 20 people were staying in it at the time, Cuellar said.

Authorities were called to the scene, about 10 miles west of Disney World, late Sunday where they found that the building was making popping sounds and windows were breaking.

Witnesses told The Associated Press they could hear a cracking sound as the villa began sinking. A large crack was visible at the building’s base.

In an interview aired on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Maggie Ghamry, a guest at the resort, said that when she first heard shaking and glass breaking, she thought it might be kids running down the hall.  “Next thing I know, people are yelling ‘get out of the building, get out of the building,'” she said.

Summer Bay is described on its website as a luxury resort with condominiums, two-bedroom villas and vacation houses in addition to standard rooms. The site touts a clubhouse, atrium and poolside bar, and says the resort is on a secluded 64-acre lake.