Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
Video Credit: AsiaWire
The wife of a newlywed new dad still missing along with three others after plunging into a giant 100-foot-wide sinkhole has told of her heartache following his disappearance.
Chinese officials say they “have not given up hope” despite it being more than 100 hours since the accident happened at a busy junction in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province in South China, at 9:28am local time on 1st December.
For the first time, the missing victims have been named as Shi Kewei, 26, and his father Shi Yi, 57, who plunged into the sinkhole in their sanitation lorry.
The third is a male e-bike rider named as Mr Luo, 53.
The site of the collapse is directly above the under-construction Line 11 Guangzhou Metro route. The accident has been linked to ongoing work inside the tunnel deep underground.
Municipal officials and experts from Guangzhou Metro said the collapsed exposed a water main, which resulted in the hole being filled with muddy liquid in the minutes after the cave-in.
Analysts estimated the victims’ two vehicles were likely carried deep into the ground, with the sinkhole thought to be up to 38 metres (125 feet) deep.
Just hours after the collapse, rescuers raised eyebrows when they began filling the sinkhole with concrete.
Guangzhou Metro said this was done to prevent further cave-ins, and that they had left space at its centre for further search and rescue operations.
Among the victims’ families is Yu Ni, wife of Shi Kewei and mother to his month-old baby girl.
The family are migrant workers from Central China who have been working municipal contracts to clean septic tanks.
She told local media: “When I heard that morning, I rushed to the scene and called them countless times.
“I called them while I was at home, I called them on the way there, and I called them at the site.
“Both of them. Neither picked up and I panicked.
“I never imagined anything like this could ever happen.
“I watched the video. I saw them driving into the sinkhole.
“I know that vehicle. I don’t know how they could’ve survived inside as it slowly, slowly sank into the ground.
“My father-in-law lived with us in a small flat, but we were so happy. Happy because our family was always together.
“Their work was hard, dirty and tiring, but they never complained.”
Officials say more than 1,100 rescuers are at the scene, but they were no closer to locating the three victims at the time of writing.
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