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A 300-metre stretch of the LRT tunnel underneath Rideau Street, where a massive sinkhole opened up this week, is flooded, the city said Friday.

As crews at street level continued working around the clock to fill in the hole and repair damaged utilities, engineers ventured into the tunnel two dozen metres underground where excavation had been underway at the time of Wednesday’s road collapse, which swallowed a minivan and one piece of construction equipment, and caused huge headaches for transit users and businesses in the area.

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There were no injuries and no cause has been established, though many wonder if it could be connected to the LRT digging.

“Over the next several days, water will be pumped out to allow teams to better assess the impact and plan the path forward,” city manager Steve Kanellakos wrote in a late-afternoon memo sent to Mayor Jim Watson and city councillors.

It was the first confirmation that the sinkhole, which was estimated to be about five metres deep, has affected the tunnel.