KITCHENER — No barriers were across a flooded road to stop a truck from driving into a two-metre-deep sinkhole early Wednesday morning.

Two men in the truck escaped without injury, but were wet after climbing out of their submerged vehicle on Strasburg Road, Waterloo Regional Police report.

"We asked for the road to be closed and there was no response," said Wally Malcolm, director at Kitchener Utilities.

Water workers were called at 1 a.m. about a problem on Strasburg, between Trillium Drive and Battler Road.

They found water gushing from a ruptured, 18-inch water main and called for police to block the road and for other city workers to bring in traffic barriers.

That didn't happen, Malcolm said.

Utility workers started trying to shut of water valves south of the break in the middle of the road, he said.

Police say they were notified about the water main break at 2:23 a.m.

Malcolm said no police were there about 3:20 a.m., when the truck and trailer turned from Trillium and began wading through water rushing along Strasburg. It didn't get far before crashing into the hole.

Malcolm has started an investigation into why the road wasn't closed sooner. He's waiting to talk with workers who were busy trying to fix the broken main.

Pipe repairs are expected to take several days. Strasburg is closed between Battler and Trillium.

It's unusual for a vehicle to drive into a sinkhole caused by a water main break in Kitchener, Malcolm said. The last time he can remember that happening was in the late 1980s.

It not unusual for motorists to drive around road closed barriers, endangering workers, he said.

In this case, Malcolm understands the truck approached from the opposite side of the break from workers, who had no chance to warn the driver about the water-covered pit.

The work truck from TriGreen landscaping had water up to its rooftop as city crews used an industrial pump to drain the sinkhole about 7:30 a.m. The trailer stayed on the road, mostly out of the water.

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Two tow trucks were waiting to pull out the truck and trail out of the hole. That happened about 10:30 a.m.

- Another water main break: Sinkhole repairs will finish Friday night in Kitchener