Watch: Search for Woman Missing in Sinkhole Continues in Unity Township, PA,
A massive rescue operation continues in Unity Township where a woman is believed to have fallen into a sinkhole while looking for her cat.
Pleasant Unity Fire Chief John Bacha said he was in a harness, tethered to a rope as crews used a ladder to get an initial look at the hole.
"You couldn't even get close enough to the hole because of the way it was undermined. We were able to take a quick look, and we did not see a victim easily through there, and we began different search operations at that time," Bacha told WTAE.
A shoe, believed to belong to Elizabeth Pollard, 64, was found early on in the operation.
"The village of Marguerite, Pleasant, Unity, a lot of little villages around here are old coal patch towns. Very common to find a lot of mines in these areas, obviously a concern to have these mine subsidence issues," Bacha said.
It appears the sinkhole occurred while Pollard was walking around looking for her missing cat as workers at a nearby business didn't see it Monday afternoon.
Technical rescue teams may be changing tactics due to ever-changing conditions
Pennsylvania State Trooper Steve Limani explained: "The water being pushed through the mine to help break down the materials so that we can suck it out is causing, distress on the integrity and that distress is actually becoming dangerous for a potential other mine subsidence to take place."
"And it's putting some of the people at risk. And we're probably going to have to switch gears, which might be a slower switching of gears and a little bit more complicated of of a dig."
Township officials deemed the incident a 'declared emergency.
"This gives the township, as well as our EMS, a chance to get any bit of equipment that we may need without having to deal with a bidding process," said Mike O'Barto, chairman of the township's board of supervisors.
