After a 30-meter-high Ceiba tree fell into a cenote — a natural sinkhole full of fresh groundwater – In the municipality of Xocén in the province of Yucatán, Mayan priests and Mexican officials have begun investigating the unusual event, since Xocén is considered the “center of the world” in certain Mayan cosmologies.

The collapse occurred last week when nearby residents heard thunderous crashes. When they arrived, they discovered a huge hole where the tree had disappeared due to the collapse of a cenote vault.

“It felt like it was raining,” Luis Emanuel Ku Ku, who lives a few meters from the site, told EFE news agency. “At that moment my mother and I went out to look and we heard the well collapse. We thought everything was going to collapse and we were about to go back when we heard the second noise and then we saw that the tree had completely disappeared.”

Ku Ku said the incident could have been fatal as a group of neighbours had been cleaning up the area just two hours before the incident.

Valladolid Mayor Alfredo Fernández Arceo said the event caught the attention of residents because of the sacred significance of Xocén.

“In many of the sacred books of the Mayan culture, this place is presented as the center of the world,” said Fernández. “This suggests that the community has an important mystical past and leads to speculation on many topics because people here know the importance (of Xocén) in the Mayan culture.”

Due to the importance of the event, Mayan priests accompany a group of experts and cave divers who are conducting studies in the cenote with the support of the Ministry of Sustainable Development of the Government of Yucatan.

Fernández explained that the divers are studying the entire structure of the cenote’s floor, its rocks and its resistance. However, the divers are diving in murky waters with poor visibility due to the soil that has fallen into the water and the branches that cover the roof of the vault.

“We are conducting a comprehensive geological study to obtain reliable information that will enable us to make decisions together with the population,” he added.

Although Xocén is part of the municipality of Valladolid, it has its own customs, traditions and authorities. These authorities are elected by a body known as the 13 Mayan Sergeants, the guardians of the Sanctuary of the Talking Cross. The Talking Cross was an important element of the 50-year-long Caste War of Yucatán. No photos or videos are allowed at this site.

With reports from Swiss Info