2 cars crash into huge hole in SW Oregon highway

A 50-foot-wide, 10-foot-deep hole opened up in a southern Oregon coastal highway late Wednesday night — and two cars plunged into it, with one person taken to the hospital.

KMTR reported that two eastbound cars drove into the hole after a stretch of state Highway 42S collapsed east of Bandon, according to Coos County sheriff’s Capt. Gabriel Fabrizio.

The passenger in one of the cars was taken to the hospital after the collapse, which occurred around 10 p.m. near milepost 5.4 after the recent heavy rains and runoff blocked a culvert.

An ODOT spokesperson said water pooled uphill, which they believe compromised the road and caused the highway to collapse.

Oregon 42S likely will be closed into next week, the agency said, advising motorists to use U.S. Highway 101 and Oregon Highway 42 instead.