A bus full of passengers was struck by a gigantic hole that suddenly formed in an artery in the city of Xining in China, according to official media. An initial assessment reports six dead and four missing.
A video published by the China News Service news agency shows panic-stricken passers-by deviating from the cavity that formed in front of a bus stop, and the vehicle practically vertically in the abyss. The asphalt on a busy street in Xining, the provincial capital of Qinghai (northwest), gave way around 5:30 p.m. Monday, swallowing the vehicle halfway and causing an explosion, public television CCTV said.
An 80 m2 cavity
An investigation is underway to determine the origin of the accident, said CCTV, adding that 16 people, injured, were "in stable condition". A previous CCTV report reported six dead and ten missing. It has been revised to six dead and four missing by the China News Agency. The collapse of the roadway led to the formation of an 80 square meter cavity. A video published by English-language public television CGTN shows a person exited from the hole by rescuers.
It is not the first such incident in China. In 2016, several passers-by fell into a hole that suddenly opened in a street in the city of Zhengzhou, the capital of central Henan province. An investigation by firefighters had indicated that this collapse could have been caused by pipes buried under the road, and which would have yielded under the pressure of rainwater. In 2013, five people died when a 10-meter deep cavity suddenly opened at the gates of an industrial district in Shenzhen (south).
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