Monday January 23, 2023, two pavilions had to be evacuated and a street closed in the town of Critot, in Seine-Maritime. In question, the appearance of a huge hole in the garden of a house.
They probably didn’t expect this terrifying apparition. Monday, January 23, the firefighters of Seine-Maritime were contacted, around 7 p.m., by a family after the discovery of a cavity on the grounds of a pavilion located in rue du Fort Bois, in the small town of Critot. Once they arrived on site, the emergency services found that a hole “several meters in diameter and depth“was formed in the garden of the pavilionas reported by several media including BFM TV.
According to firefighters, the hole was four meters in diameter five meters deep. Disturbing dimensions that forced them to evacuate two pavilions, including six people, to close the street and establish a security perimeter. “The firefighters came to see me around 8 p.m. to ask me to evacuate. I went to sleep at my daughter’s house, but all my things are in this house“said one of the neighbors evacuated after the fact.
A marl could be the origin of the hole in the garden
On Tuesday 24 January, an expert from the Geological and Mining Research Bureau (BRGM) went to the site to determine if a marl was the origin of the hole in the garden. “We are awaiting BRGM’s expertise and its conclusions to find out if we can open the Fort Bois road to traffic again and allow the inhabitants of the two evacuated pavilions to return to their homes.“explained Isabelle L’Hermitte, the mayor of Critot.
The marls are anthropogenic cavities dug for extract chalk. They are particularly numerous in Upper Normandy and especially in the Pays de Caux. In January 2021, several families had already had to be evacuated after three ground movements in the same town, at the Domaine de la Hêtraie. The holes were finally filled a month later.
© Photo by Mitchel Willem Jacob Anneveldt on Unsplash
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Hole
Firefighters found that a hole several meters in diameter and deep had formed in the garden of the pavilion.
© Photo by Ronnie George on Unsplash
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House
As a safety measure, two pavilions comprising six people had to be evacuated.
© Photo by Jan Huber on Unsplash
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Gathering
The street was closed and a security perimeter was established pending the expertise of the Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM).
© Photo by Daniel Lincoln on Unsplash
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Hole
A marl could be the source of the hole in the garden. It should be recapped.