Swallowed by the road: Two cars plunge into lake of boiling water after huge sinkhole opens up on Russian street 

• A Toyota Corolla Spacio and Nissan Juke were dragged into a sinkhole in Novosibirsk city on Wednesday
• A Lexus waiting at a red light narrowly escaped the crater and there were no injuries reported in local media
• It was caused by a burst hot water pipe which left 21 blocks of flats and three hospitals without water
• Latest in a series of similar incidents in the Siberian city which saw vehicles stranded by sinkholes last month

Two cars have been swallowed by a sinkhole full of piping hot water which suddenly opened up today in Russia.

The Toyota Corolla Spacio and Nissan Juke were marooned in the crater at a crossroads in Novosibirsk, Russia's third largest city.

Photos showed curious onlookers peering at the enormous sinkhole from behind a cordon as public utility workers toiled to try to free the cars. 

'Two cars are completely sunk. One is just about afloat, the other is sinking. It's awful,' an eyewitness told NGS, a local news outlet. 

A Lexus which had been waiting at a red light was towed away from danger after coming to a halt on the edge of the precipice 'as it was about to fall into the boiling pit,' another report stated. 

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The Toyota and Nissan were believed to be parked outside a business centre when the hole opened, and there were no serious casualties in the incident, according to local reports.

Steam was visible at the hole, which was caused by a burst underground hot water pipe not far from the city's landmark theatre and opera house.

The pipeline supplies hot water to keep homes and workplaces warm during the cold Siberian winter.

The incident caused water supplies to 21 blocks of flats and three hospitals to be cut until tomorrow.

It is the latest in a series of similar accidents in the city.

Last month cars, buses and trucks were stranded after sinkholes opened in city streets.