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Huge sinkhole swallows, crushes car in Dale City, Virginia

VDOT says a pipe carrying stream water burst in heavy rains.

DALE CITY, Va. — The ground opened up and swallowed a car.  

What sounds like a movie script is exactly what happened in Dale City, Va. on Thursday night. A couple of bystanders shot video of a massive sink hole. 

"Oh my God! A whole car just went down into there, look," someone shouted on cell phone video taken by Audrey Doiley. 

On Friday, families came out to see the massive sinkhole that ate a car.

RELATED: Sinkhole closes part of George Washington Parkway’s northbound lanes

"We live right down the street and said, 'let's check it out.' I've never seen a sinkhole like that, it's crazy," said Todd, a neighbor. 

The kids have a slightly different take.

"It looks cool," said Todd's little girl. 

Probably not cool for the owner of the red car, crumpled  and smashed between concrete and dirt some 20-feet down.

VDOT crews say they'll probably need a crane to get it out.  

It happened at Princedale Drive near Lidendale Road, right where the road crosses a stream.

VDOT officials say heavy rains inundated the pipe under road, causing it to fail.

"All the rain we've got over the last year and year and half, said Mike Collier, VDOT's Lakeridge supervisor. 

"The water took the pipe and it just pushed the pipe, blew them out down the creek," said Collier. 

RELATED: Sinkhole opens near White House, repairs yet to begin

Thankfully, nobody was inside that red car, which was parked along the side of the road at the time.

"It's a little scary that it can just happen quickly and anywhere. That's a huge car that fell. It opened up quite quickly and happened fast. Earlier in the night we were driving up and down this road, so I'm just really thankful that nobody was in the car and nobody got hurt," said neighbor Katy Defonde. 

Princedale Drive remains closed between Sadler lane and Roundtree drive. VDOT says it could take a week to make repairs. 

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