AdSense Advertisement

Dramatic video captures massive sinkhole swallowing road in Shanghai

By The South Asia Times

BEIJING - A newly constructed intersection in Shanghai’s Minhang District collapsed into a large sinkhole on Wednesday, sending chunks of roadway and earth cascading into a deep cavity in the ground, authorities and regional media reported.

Dramatic surveillance and bystander footage circulating on social media appear to show the road surface cracking and sinking before a wide section gave way without warning, forming a crater that disrupted traffic and raised fresh concerns about infrastructure safety in the bustling Chinese metropolis.

The cause of the collapse is under investigation, but similar incidents in Chinese cities have often been linked to underground construction activities and water seepage weakening the soil, a combination experts say can destabilize the ground and trigger sudden subsidence.

Local authorities closed nearby roads and mobilised engineering teams to secure the area and prevent further collapses, with no confirmed reports of serious injuries as of Thursday.

Sinkholes have periodically appeared in Shanghai and other Chinese cities in recent years amid rapid urban development, sometimes exposing gaps in ground support or aging infrastructure -- including an earlier case where underground water and construction work were implicated in surface collapse.

Link of video https://x.com/thesouthasiatim/status/2021881970096320616?s=20

AdSense Advertisement