An overnight sinkhole in Los Lunas caused a busy bridge to close after two people escaped feeling lucky they weren’t seriously injured.

According to Valencia County Fire officials and KRQE, two people were walking on the Main Street Bridge sidewalk Saturday night when the ground collapsed. Much to their terror, the two fell into the sinkhole.

A few Good Samaritans reacted quickly and, with help from Valencia County Fire Department members, rescued the two individuals who were said to be unhurt. After a city crew thoroughly assessed the bridge and surrounding structure, a decision was made to close the bridge from Saturday night into Sunday.

The New Mexico Department of Transportation suspects high water levels from heavy snowmelt damaged the culverts, tunnels that carry water under a road. “There’s culverts nearby that undermined the roadway, and for that reason, it caused some areas to erode, and that’s when we started to realize that we had to get traffic off of this roadway,” New Mexico Department of Transportation District 3 Spokesperson, Kimberly Gallegos told KRQE.

NMDOT said crews spent most of Sunday digging underneath the bridge to ensure nothing eroded past the roadway's center line. While the inspection took place, a water line had to be shut off, leaving some residents in the area briefly without water. The bridge is now open, but officials are still determining how long construction and other repairs will take.

Los Lunas Schools held remote learning last Monday due to the bridge's closing. The remote learning day began two hours later than the usual start time. Classes resumed their regular in-class schedules on Tuesday when the bridge was re-opened.

A map of New Mexico road closures can be found here.