A mother and her two young children escaped Thursday evening after their van fell into a flooded sinkhole.

A witness told CTV he was driving on Saskatoon’s 45th Street near Avenue C, around 4:45 p.m., when the van ahead of him plunged into the hole.

He and other drivers pulled over. He said he helped a woman and two kids escape the vehicle.

The mother said her kids -- a one-year-old boy and three-year-old boy -- were sleeping in the vehicle's backseat when the van hit the sinkhole. She tried to avoid the water but the ground collapsed underneath her vehicle.

The three weren't injured, but visibly shaken up. Witnesses said the area was not blocked off with barricades when the incident occurred.

People who work in the area told CTV they phoned police earlier in the day to report what they assumed was a water main break.

Police said city crews responded to the scene.

The van was pulled from the sinkhole just before 6 p.m.