Massive sinkhole swallows cars, electricity poles near Bangkok hospital

A 50 metre-deep sinkhole opened in front of a Bangkok hospital early on Wednesday, sucking in cars and electricity poles in a collapse that shocked city residents and was linked to the construction of a nearby underground railway station.

Local authorities closed roads around the Vajira Hospital on Samsen Road in the Thai capital’s historic old town at around 7am as the crater emerged, ripping apart pipes that spewed out torrents of water while toppled electricity cables sent out dangerous sparks.

Patients and residents in nearby flats were evacuated as the hole – measuring roughly 30 by 30 metres wide and 50 metres deep – appeared in front of the public hospital.

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt, who rushed to the scene to assess the situation, said the road subsidence occurred above the joint between the tunnel for the dual-track train line and a planned new station.

“Once the land slipped into that tunnel, then the whole tunnel collapsed. It also burst a pipe and the water made everything collapse further,” Chadchart, who is also an engineer, said in a video posted on social media.

“We’re assessing the damage at the moment, we think that the hospital should be spared. But we need to plug the hole immediately before everything else is pulled down there, too.”