A sinkhole abruptly appeared and swallowed an SUV in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday, injuring the two occupants, according to emergency workers.
Images from the scene depicted a white SUV engulfed in a sinkhole approximately 2½ meters (eight feet) deep that had formed on a street in central Seoul.
Emergency responders successfully rescued the vehicle’s 82-year-old male driver and a 76-year-old female passenger. Fortunately, no other individuals were injured in the incident, which occurred around 11:20 a.m. local time (0220 GMT), as reported by the Seodaemun District Fire Station.
The conditions of the injured individuals were not immediately disclosed. As of Thursday evening, traffic in the Seodaemun area remained restricted while repair work on the damaged road continued and officials investigated the cause of the sinkhole.
South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport informed lawmakers last year that at least 879 sinkholes were reported across the country from 2019 to June 2023. Nearly half of these sinkholes were attributed to damaged sewer pipes, according to the ministry.
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In a related incident last week, a 48-year-old tourist from India vanished in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when the pavement beneath her collapsed into an eight-meter-deep (26-foot-deep) sinkhole. Officials believe she may have been carried away by an underground water current.
