Giant sinkhole opens on Queensland campground

Emergency services helped campers flee the site near Queensland’s Rainbow Beach when the 450ft-wide hole appeared on Saturday night.

Senior ranger Dan Clifton said there is a possibility the sinkhole could get bigger.

“Rangers and police have erected traffic barriers and warnings signs to advise beachgoers of potential risks”.

“The MV Beagle campsite has been closed to new campers, however, there are six alternative campgrounds at Inskip that remain open”.

Rainbow Beach newsagent Ruth Modin said she was told fishermen near the camp ground may have raised the alarm on Saturday night with the campers.

The hole could be linked to a number of small earthquakes in the region in recent weeks.

The camp ground is within a national park and staff from the Department of National Parks, Sport and Racing are looking into the incident.

New vision shows the sudden power of the Queensland sinkhole as campers scrambled to save themselves and their property from being washed away overnight.

Holiday-maker Casey Hughes said the sinkhole “sounded like a thunder noise” as it opened up.

Melanie Wotherspoon, who was camping nearby, witnessed the sinkhole swallow the vehicles.

It’s believed up to 140 people were evacuated from the area and others were warned to pack up and get ready to leave. “Pretty scary”, a woman at the campsite told Channel Nine, reported The Telegraph. No one was injured or missing.

“We came back in and, yeah, the tent was still there luckily but next door lost their camper, it’s in the water”.

“It was all gone just still don’t know how we all got out, one of our friends vans was half over the bank, then they winched it out, so so close (sic)”, Ms Turner wrote.

“It’s always going to have an impact but the thing to remember is that it’s certainly not a one-off, there was certainly a sinkhole down there a couple of years ago and if you have a look at the area of Inskip and the camping grounds in its entirety it does have minimal effect”, he said.