The driver of a pickup truck swallowed up by a sinkhole Tuesday following a massive water main break in Worcester says he thought he was driving through a puddle.
“It looked like a puddle. No one said anything to stop,” Vincent McHugh said. “I hit the gas to go through it because it looked like it was just a puddle.”
Worcester Police Chief Steve Sargent was on scene to help rescue McHugh, who was sitting on top of his pickup truck.
“You never know what’s under a sinkhole, and if it’s going to move, so we figured the quicker we got him out of there, the better off he’d be.”
The 24-inch water man break happened about 3 p.m. at Stores Street on Shore Drive near Interstate 190, officials said.
The break sent five to seven million gallons of water cascading into the streets near I-190.
Department of Public Works officials say the pipe was installed in 1955.
Frontage Road between Shore and West Boylston drives along I-190 will remain closed Wednesday as city crews work to replace the line.
Officials say residents should expect to see cloudy-colored water but it is safe to drink.
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