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A terrified driver had a crater escape after plunging into this sinkhole which opened up at traffic lights.

Although shaken, driver Pamela Knox was left unhurt following the freak accident in Toledo, Ohio.

The 60-year-old had been running some errands when the incident occurred.

"I was calling on the name of Jesus and all I could do was say, 'Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,' and I kept saying it over and over and over again," said Pamela.

"I know that's what kept me safe, was just calling on the power of the Lord."

Pamela, a principal at Glendale-Feilbach Elementary School, was driving on North Detroit Avenue at about 12:15 p.m.

She added: "The road caved in underneath me and my car started falling and rolling over and over until it came to a stop."

(Image: facebook.com/toledofirerescue)

Sergeant Joe Heffernan said a water main break beneath the road may have caused the giant hole to open up after the area had been hit by a deluge of rain in recent months.

The officer explained the vehicle in front of Pamela felt the road starting to disintegrate and managed to pull forward out of the way.

However the pensioner was unable to move seeing her car fall more than two metres in to the hole.

When emergency services arrived Pamela had to climb out from the hole using a ladder.

Once rescued she was taken to a hospital as a precaution.

(Image: facebook.com/toledofirerescue)

Toledo Mayor Mike Bell said: "I'm just happy that as I understand, she walked herself out [of the hole].

"We had a lot of rain lately and something must have washed out under the road."

Emergency services used a crane to pull the car from the hole. Repairs to the road are expected to take days.

Sinkholes often occur after heavy rain and floods, or following earthquakes, and can open up suddenly without any warning.

One of the largest in the U.S. is in rural Louisiana, a vast and growing hole which last year was recorded to be 526-feet wide.