Massive sinkhole swallows several cars in grounds of Italian hospital


Soraya Ebrahimi
  • English
  • Arabic

A sinkhole measuring up to 20 metres deep and more than 2,000 square metres has opened up in the car park of a hospital on the outskirts of the southern Italian city of Naples, consuming several cars.

The incident occurred at dawn on Friday at the city's Ospedale del Mare. The Italian news agency ANA reported there were no injuries or casualties.

The sinkhole hit the electricity supply with the hospital currently being powered by generators. It is about 100 metres from the nearest hospital building and has led to the evacuation of the nearby Covid centre, according to media reports.

Police and firefighters were at the scene and  regional governor Vincenzo De Luca visited the site earlier this morning.

This gallery depicts the gaping hole and its knock-on effects.

A view of the large sinkhole that opened overnight in the parking of Ospedale del Mare hospital in Naples, Italy. AFP
A view of the large sinkhole that opened overnight in the parking of Ospedale del Mare hospital in Naples, Italy. AFP

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What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

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Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

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Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports

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Women’s draw: Maitha Al Neyadi (57kg)

The more serious side of specialty coffee

While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.

The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.

Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”

One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.

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Who are the Sacklers?

The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.

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It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.

Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".

The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.

Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.

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