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Grandmother, Children Forced From Latrobe Home As It Crumbles

LATROBE (KDKA) -- Carole Mullen adores her Latrobe home.

"I had a fireplace that's two sided, a bar room that was amazing, a beautiful deck," she said. "It's heaven, my house was heaven to me."

But the house became a sinking hell over the weekend.

The structural damage was evident immediately. The state believes it's subsidence from the mines nearby.

Mullen, her daughter and her two grandchildren scrambled to get out of the house as it began to sink.

The city has already condemned the structure.

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"I don't know how this could happen to someone that worked so hard and so long," Carole's son Bob Mullen said.

Bob Mullen has been there for his mom since he got word her home was falling in. He, along with others, helped move everything she had out as quickly as possible.

"They got everything I had in my house out in six hours. All my friends and family and the city of Latrobe have done so much to help me and I'm so grateful," Carole Mullen said. "I'm just glad God spared my grandchildren. They could have been crushed."

Now comes trying to find some place to stay. Mullen doesn't have mine subsidence insurance.

"I'm praying my insurance company and maybe the state can help," she said.

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