Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
Video Credit: AsiaWire
Three people – including the newlywed father of a month-old child – are missing after a giant sinkhole measuring 100 feet across swallowed a lorry and an electric bike before filling with water.
CCTV footage from the city of Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province in South China, captured the moment a sanitation lorry carrying a driver and his father, 26 and 51, disappeared into the ground.
Municipal officials say the freak accident happened at the junction of Guangzhou Avenue and Yodong West Road at 9:28am local time on 1st December. The 26-year-old victim is reportedly a newlywed with a one-month-old baby.
The search was still ongoing for the lorry occupants, as well as a third victim who was on an electric bike, more than 24 hours after the incident took place.
Footage taken by screaming witnesses shows them surrounding the giant sinkhole in the middle of the crossroads when more ground collapses and it increases in size.
It is now believed to be more than 30 metres (100 feet) in diameter, and equally as deep.
Under-construction Line 11 of the Guangzhou Metro runs underneath the thoroughfare, with the tunnel beneath the road made for what is to be Shahe Station.
The initial collapse, which was followed by at least two secondary cave-ins, is thought to be linked to the ongoing underground work.
Search and rescue efforts were made difficult by the exposed water main seen in images of the sinkhole, which quickly filled with muddy water in the minutes after the accident.
The victims are believed to have been buried in mud and possibly carried underground.
The local water supply has since been shut off and all nearby shops evacuated on government orders, reports said.
As rescue efforts continue with some 1,000 personnel, officials say no builders were harmed.
The incident did not affect currently operational underground train lines, they added.
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