Sinkhole appears in South Korea, injuring 2
On Friday (30 Aug), a day after a sinkhole suddenly opened up on a road in Seoul, South Korea, authorities found a new sinkhole nearby.
According to the Korea Herald, the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s road division and police have been controlling traffic on two lanes since 8.30am in Seongsan-ro, about 30m from the spot where the accident occurred.
The first sinkhole had swallowed an SUV and injured its two elderly occupants, with one of them in critical condition.
Sinkhole appears in South Korea, causing white SUV to fall in
On Aug 29 at about 11.25am, Korean media reported that a vehicle carrying a driver and a passenger rolled over sideways as it crashed into a sinkhole that measured approximately 8 feet (2.5 meters) deep in Seongsan-ro in Yeonhui neighbourhood, Seodaemun district, north-western Seoul.
A white Tivoli SUV carrying an 82-year-old male driver and a 76-year-old female passenger rolled over and crashed into the hole
Source: The Korea Herald
The man was seriously injured and taken to hospital.
Meanwhile, the woman, who was a passenger in the car, suffered cardiac arrest. Paramedics performed CPR on her at the scene before she was taken to hospital. She was reportedly conscious.
Images show an excavator retrieving the SUV from the sinkhole.
Source: Yonhap via The Korea Herald
Second sinkhole appears
A day later, on 30 Aug, another sinkhole appeared near the first one, authorities reported.
A district official said they were working to determine the cause. He added that authorities monitored the road overnight and discovered the second sinkhole during morning patrols.
Road controls were ongoing at two nearby lanes, the Korea Herald reported.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, there were at least 879 sinkholes reported in the country between 2019 to June 2023.
Almost half of these sinkholes were caused by damaged sewer pipes.
Sinkholes have been in the spotlight recently as one appeared in Kuala Lumpur on Friday (23 Aug), which an Indian national fell into.
Authorities called off the search for her on 31 Aug.
Another sinkhole appeared in Taiwan on 31 Aug.
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Featured image adapted from The Korea Herald and The Korea Herald.
