BANGKOK: A massive sinkhole opened up in front of a hospital in Bangkok on Wednesday morning (Sep 24), prompting evacuations and road closures.
The sinkhole appeared at around 7.15am outside Vajira Hospital in the Dusit district of the Thai capital.
Photos and videos circulating on social media show the sinkhole affecting the entire width of the road, with a white truck at the edge of a steep drop.
AFP journalists observed a roughly 50m hole, pulling down power lines and exposing a burst pipe gushing water.
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt told Thai media that the sinkhole was caused by a leak in a tunnel at a construction site for a new MRT station.
Suriyachai Rawiwan, director of Bangkok’s disaster prevention department, told AFP at the scene that the collapse was likely linked to recent heavy rain and a leaky pipe.
“There was a leak in the water pipe – water from the pipe eroded (earth) under the road so this incident happened,” he said, adding that there were no known casualties.
“The water that eroded brought some soil that dropped down to an under-construction subway station, causing the collapse,” Suriyachai added.
