[BANGKOK] A massive sinkhole next to a hospital in Bangkok swallowed cars and power poles, forcing nearby residents to evacuate although no casualties were immediately reported.
A road above a subway station under construction collapsed on Wednesday (Sep 24) morning, creating a hole about 20 metres deep and at least 30 metres wide, authorities said. Officials are monitoring a 100-metre radius around the site, as the sliding continued well into the afternoon.
The collapse occurred when a tunnel housing a subway track caved in, causing the soil above to shift quickly and slide into the underground station, said Chadchart Sittipunt, governor of Bangkok. Broken pipes let water pour into the hole, worsening the slide. Water and electricity have been cut to the area.
The hospital is considered safe because of underground foundation walls, Chadchart said. Outpatient services have been suspended, but individuals getting inpatient treatment remain in the building, officials said.
Bangkok authorities are assessing the damage and rushing to backfill the gap to prevent further sliding, which could worsen with rain in the coming days, Chadchart said. They are also ready to drain water from the hole to stabilise the soil, he added.
The subway station has concrete structures that can withstand sliding soil, but a nearby police station remains at risk of collapse, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said after visiting the site. Some foundation piles under the low-rise police building have been damaged, he added.
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Nearby residents saw water seeping from the ground moments before the collapse, Anutin said.
“We can’t say what caused this yet. There’s certainly been a mistake made, but this is all about engineering, and we must find out the cause,” said Anutin, who is an engineer by training and whose family runs the country’s second-largest builder, Stecon Group. “There’s no danger to people’s lives, that’s all under control.”
Sinkholes are rare in Thailand, where the geology and Bangkok’s urban landscape don’t usually lead to ground collapses. Earlier this year, a government building under construction collapsed after an earthquake, killing dozens of migrant workers. A Thai construction tycoon and executives of a Chinese partner company were charged with professional negligence causing deaths.
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A preliminary assessment in Wednesday’s incident found the soil around a lower tunnel that connected to the subway station sank, disconnecting the tube and breaking water pipes overhead, said Gardphajon Udomdhammabhakdi, governor of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand, which builds public rail transportation systems in Bangkok. BLOOMBERG
