House falls into crater in one piece in Kazakh mining town of Ridder

A house has collapsed into a newly formed crater in the city of Ridder in East Kazakhstan Oblast.

The incident occurred on April 3 at 2:30 p.m. in the area of the Ridder-Sokolsky mine when a 110-meter deep 50mX50m (164ftX164ft) funnel formed in place of a house. Three people managed to escape the collapsing building.

Mining operations run by Altyn Tau-Vostok JSC, a subsidiary of KazZinc LLP, caused the accident. There was a roof caving in one of the chambers of the Bystrushinskaya deposit at the 11th working floor of the Ridder-Sokolsky mine. The company is now sealing the crater with concrete and reinforcing the caving.