Car drives into sinkhole in rural Kane County, 2 injured

BURLINGTON TOWNSHIP, Ill. (WLS) -- Two people were hurt when a car drove into a sinkhole in rural Kane County early Tuesday.

About 3:50 a.m. sheriff's deputies were dispatched to Thomas Road about a quarter mile north of McDonald Road in unincorporated Burlington Township, where a Ford Taurus had driven into a part of the roadway "that had been completely washed out," according to a statement from Kane County Sheriff's Office Lt. Pat Gengler.

By the time deputies arrived, a Chevrolet pickup truck had driven over the Taurus, which was "completely underground" in a 10-foot wide sinkhole with a 41-year-old Elgin woman and her 15-year-old son trapped inside, Gengler said.

PHOTOS: Car drives into sinkhole in unincorporated Burlington Township

"It looks like the Ford Taurus was going north, we think that they were delivering newspapers, and then a truck was coming south," said Lt. Gengler.

Fire crews extricated the mother and son. On Tuesday afternoon, the boy was listed in fair condition at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.

The pickup truck's driver, a 25-year-old Maple Park man, was treated and released at the scene, police said.

"They were pretty shaken up, banged up a little bit. It took about an hour to get them out," said Lt. Gengler.

There are no streetlights in the area of the sinkhole, which may have formed due to severe thunderstorms Monday night, police said. The sinkhole was deep enough that the car was completely below ground-level.

Thomas Road will be closed indefinitely between Middleton and McDonald roads, police said.

No citations were issued after the crash.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.