Home over old mine sinks 3 feet in 2 weeks; resident evacuated

• Reprints

Updated: January 17, 2012 11:02PM

BOONVILLE (AP) — Southern Indiana officials say a home in Boonville has sunk three feet in the past two weeks, apparently because of a collapsing mine shaft that dates to the 19th century.

The Evansville Courier & Press reports the home’s elderly resident was recently evacuated after hearing a series of loud pops and seeing water in the back yard. All of the home’s utilities have been shut off but nothing has been done with the home since then

Boonville Fire Department Fire officials blame the problem on the collapse of an old mine shaft believed to have been abandoned in 1899.

Parts of southwestern Indiana are filled with old abandoned coal mine shafts that occasionally collapse, causing the ground above to sink.