France’s impressive Arc de Triomphe is looking a little smaller today after a sinkhole in Chile doubled in size — and is now large enough to consume the monument.
Emerging on July 30, the mega sinkhole was initially 82 feet (25m) wide and (200m) deep, but has doubled in size just days on to 160ft (50m) across and 656ft (200m) deep.
The sinkhole is so big that it could fit London's BT Tower inside, as well as make room for six Christ the Redeemer statues stacked head-to-head with its outstretched arms.
READ MORE: Bloke swallowed up by sinkhole in swimming pool tragedy that sucked him 15m underground
Due to the seriousness of the sinkhole and the rapid rate it has been increasing at, all work has been ordered to stop and an investigation continues to take place by the he National Service of Geology and Mining.
Situated near the Alcaparrosa mine close to Tierra Amarilla town in Copiapo, which is owned by the Canadian company Lundin Mining LUN.TO, about 413 miles north of Santiago, the company said in a statement that neither workers or community members were affected by the gaping hole and it was working to discover the cause of the sinkhole.
The geology and mining service said that it was starting a "sanctioning process" but refused to reveal what that would entail.
The hole is located 413 miles north of Santiago and while no material has been found within it, according to Lundin, it's filled with “a lot of water”.
The company followed up with: "“The closest home is more than 600m (1,969ft) away from the sinkhole while any populated area or public service are almost a kilometre away from the affected zone.”
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David Montenegro, the director of the geology and mining service , said that work was being undertaken to "ensure that all safety measures are taken to safeguard the lives of workers and communities close to the site".
Water extraction pumps have been installed at the mine by the service who confirmed that they would begin investigating underground chambers for potential over-extraction in a few days.
Tierra Amarilla Mayor Cristobal Zuniga said local officials have concerns that the mine could have flooded underground and classed it as “something completely out of the ordinary".
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