Eight Corvette vehicles, manufactured by Chevrolet, belonging to the collection of the National Corvette Museum in Bowling, Kentucky, were literally engulfed by an eight meters long, 10 meters deep sinkhole.
The moment the sinkhole appears and the cars, worth millions of dollars, fall into the deep pit was caught by a security camera and the video of the incident has already gotten thousands of views on social networks.
The Museum's executive director, Wendell Strode, regretted the event and said that each of the vehicles "has a unique story", highlighting the high sentimental value of the cars, some of the donated by their former owners, such as the 1962 Corvette donated by an Indiana man before he died, according to the Associated Press via ABC.
Wendell Strode added that the Museum has insurance that covers the costs of cars; however, the cost cannot be evaluated completely, but it's estimated that it could well be hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the magnitude of structural damage. Museum authorities estimate that due the reparation of the affected area, it could take weeks or months to be reopened to the public.
Museum spokesperson Katie Frassinelli told the AP that the sinkhole opened at around 5:40 a.m. CST on Thursday, which is why there were no injuries or deaths reported.
Of the eight cars that fell into the sinkhole, six belonged to the museum, dedicated to safekeeping Corvettes lent by collectors, while the other two, a 1993 Spyder ZR-1 and a 2009 "Blue Devil" ZR1 were on lease from General Motors, reported CNN.
These are the cars that were affected by the incident:
1993 ZR-1 Spyder
2009 ZR1 "Blue Devil"
1962 Black Corvette
1984 PPG Pace Car
1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette
1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette
2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette
2009 White 1.5 Millionth Corvette