Crater threatens apartment block

Families in Gondar, Guimarães, are living in fear since a huge crater opened up yards from their apartment block. As winter rains and bad weather continue, they are terrified that more of the hillside will start to give way, taking their homes with it – and so far, the authorities appear to have done nothing.
“They will only do something once there’s a disaster,” homeowner Carla Ferreira told Correio da Manhã last week.
But parish council president José Cunha says he has been pushing for “a solution” and that studies were being made to see how best to shore-up the disappearing hillside.
The crater appeared almost a year ago, swallowing up a footpath and stopping only yards short of the block’s rear garages.
Recent intense rains have made the situation worse, leaving the block’s 14 families so worried that they could hardly sleep at night.
“We are hoping there doesn’t have to be a disaster before this is fixed,” homeowner Rosa Sampaio echoed her neighbours’ concerns.
As the rains continue, no one is authorised to access their garages while security tape cordons off the muddied landslide.