Security guard Aruzat Lukyanenko, 59, is missing presumed dead after a giant 85ft sinkhole opened up beneath her while at work – her family said she was supposed to have the day off
A female security guard has been ‘buried alive’ after a 85ft sinkhole suddenly opened up beneath her.
Aruzat Lukyanenko, 59, vanished two and a half weeks ago while working inside a small metal booth on a mining site in the Russian Arctic. Rescuers, who have been unable to dig deep enough to find her, have now called off the efforts at a depth of almost 70ft. It comes amid fears the heavy digging equipment could trigger a deadly new collapse at the copper and nickel ore mine. The sinkhole is estimated to be at least 85ft deep, enough to fit a nine-storey tower – but may be even deeper.
The reason for the collapse is said to be thawing in the frozen permafrost soil, reportedly caused by climate warming. The missing woman’s niece Sabina Suendikova said: “It’s scary to think that we will never find our aunt.”
“The question is how the employer allowed her [to be in a booth here] knowing the risks and dangers…without taking any measures to prevent them.”
There had been previous sinkhole collapses in the area, she said. Ms Lukyanenko’s role as a security guard was to warn people not to venture onto ground that might sink.
“We have been searching for our aunt for 17 days,” her niece said. “Today we were told that the search will be stopped until Thursday, because there is no [suitable] equipment.”
Another niece, Radima, said: “She wasn’t supposed to work that day at all — she had a day off. She was asked to replace a colleague, and she agreed.”
But on the phone before the ground collapse she “seemed to have a premonition of trouble”, said her relative. The regional prosecutor’s office said: “The booth was standing on the ground.
“At some point, this whole area of ground together with the booth fell at least 25 metres. There was no void [below the surface]. It probably all happened because of the thawing of the soil, that is, the permafrost melted.”
It’s not the first tragedy involving sinkholes in Russia, and in 2019, two men boiled to death after their vehicle fell into a sinkhole filled with boiling water. The incident unfolded in the city of Penza, located 340 miles south of Moscow.
After the water supply was halted to the area, emergency services were able to retrieve the victims’ bodies. The local Ministry of Emergencies said the car “fell as a result of the ground collapsing.”