Sinkholes, craters and collapsed roads around the world

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March 2013: People stand beside an enormous hole in the ground in Guangyuan, a village in southwest China's Sichuan province. The hole currently measures 24.9 metres in diameter and residents fear the pit will continue to grow until it starts swallowing nearby houses. Picture: AFP/Getty Images

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[Poncho]

A taxi is lifted out of a 3m deep sinkhole that suddenly opened up in Handan city, Hebei province, northern China, in August 2012
Picture: Imaginechina / Rex Features

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[Poncho]

In August 2012, a tanker truck driver had a shock while driving along a road in Harbin in China's Heilongjiang province as a sinkhole suddenly opened up. The back half of the truck was engulfed by the hole, while the rest of the truck was left lying on its side on the road. Picture: Top Photo Corporation / Rex Features

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[Poncho]

June 2012: A car sits in a giant sinkhole in Duluth, Minnesota, after flash floods caused by torrential rain
Picture: The Star Tribune, Brian Peterson/AP

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[Poncho]

A truck hangs over the edge of a sinkhole that opened up in the parking lot of Hughes Relocation Services in Salt Springs, Florida, in June 2012
Picture: AP Photo/The Ocala Star-Banner, Alan Youngblood

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[Poncho]

A tourist peers into the Darvaza Gates Of Hell gas crater in the Karakum Desert, Turkmenistan. The eerie cavern has been on fire for more than 40 years. It was discovered in 1971 by Soviet geologists when the ground beneath their drilling rig suddenly collapsed, leaving a large hole with a diameter of 70 metres (230 ft). As the huge crater was filled with potentially poisonous natural gas the decision was made to set it alight. Scientists expected it to burn itself out within a few days, but the fire is still as fierce as ever. Picture: Amos Chapple / Rex Features

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