Sinker engulfs Illinois football field in shocking video

A massive 100-foot-long sinkhole opened up in an Illinois park Wednesday, swallowing a lamp post in the middle of recreation grounds and leaving a deep, gaping hole in its wake.

The terrifying moment was captured by a nearby surveillance camera Wednesday morning, showing an area between two football and soccer fields opening up around a light pole, causing it to collapse and releasing plumes of smoke at Gordon Park Moore in the town of Alton, located about 18 miles north of St. Louis, Missouri.

The hole, which opened at 9:18 a.m., is about 100 feet wide and 30 feet deep, Alton Parks and Recreation Director Michael Haynes told NBC News.

Haynes said the sinkhole appeared due to “the collapse of a mine deep underground,” adding, “New Frontier Materials is responsible.”

Fortunately, no one was on the ground at the time and no one was injured, he noted.

“It looks like something out of a movie, doesn’t it?” It looks like a bomb went off,” Haynes told NBC affiliate KSDK in St. Louis.

A spokesperson for New Frontier Materials, which owns an underground mine, told KSDK: “The affected area has been secured and will remain off-limits for the foreseeable future while inspectors and experts examine the mine and make repairs.” »

“No one was injured in the incident, which was reported to Mine Safety Health Administration (MSHA) officials in accordance with applicable regulations. Safety is our top priority. We will work with the city to remedy this issue as quickly and safely as possible to ensure minimal impact on the community. »

NBC News has contacted New Frontier Materials for further comment.

Gordon Moore Park is temporarily closed “while the investigation into the sinkhole is ongoing,” Alton Parks and Recreation said on social media.

According to the United States Geological Survey, sinkholes form naturally when groundwater flows underground and dissolves rock below the surface. They are quite common in Florida because the state has a large amount of limestone below the ground surface.

However, they can also occur as a result of mining, utility line leaks or the decomposition of buried materials, according to Penn State Extension, which focuses on teaching agronomy and horticulture.

Last year, a 40-foot-wide sinkhole opened near Knoxville, Iowa, and was later determined to have likely been caused by the collapse of a limestone mine, the Des Moines Register reported.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com