Overview
- Christine Keilback, 58, fell up to her shoulders into a boulevard void outside her Lipton Street home Saturday night, and a Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service technical-rescue team used a frame, harness and winch to free her about 40 minutes later.
- City officials say the opening was a catchbasin — a street storm drain — missing its manhole cover, and they stress it was not a true sinkhole caused by soil washout.
- The city linked the hazard to a removed lead and an uncapped catchbasin where backfill likely migrated over time, and crews have placed a temporary cover and barricades at the site.
- Permanent repairs are scheduled to begin Thursday while the city investigates how the drain was left uncapped and what steps could prevent a repeat.
- Officials also found another catchbasin across the road without a cover, and the mayor urged residents to report missing or damaged covers to 311 to help crews respond quickly.