WHITE RIVER TOWNSHIP, Mich.–It’s hard not to stare. Dozens of gawkers drove out to Hancock Road near Chase road in White River Township Wednesday to see it for themselves.
A chunk of the road is missing, washed out.
Muskegon County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the location at 7399 Hancock Road around 3:45 a.m. Wednesday after overnight rains caused a culvert to fail and a 20 foot section of the road to wash out. A vehicle went into the 25 foot hole and landed on its roof.
Both the driver and passenger, two Montague men in their 20s, were taken to the hospital to be treated for hypothermia, but are expected to be okay.
“They are lucky to have survived looking at the car,” said trucker Steve Smith, who responded to the scene.
The passenger, Nikoli Wallace, 20, was able to use his cell phone to call his family. He suffered a broken tooth and bruises but is home from the hospital, his father said.
The family is grateful the young men survived.
The road, a main drag in the Montague area, is closed and the missing section was still washed out Wednesday afternoon. Chunks of gravel and concrete continued to fall in during the day.
A blind dog fell into the hole on Wednesday afternoon, but was pulled out by his owner.
No word on when the road will be reopened.
(Photo courtesy Muskegon County Sheriff’s Department.)
