A giant sinkhole abruptly appeared in Seoul, swallowing a motorcycle and its driver as the road collapsed. The driver, identified as 34-year-old Mr. Park, was found dead in a state of cardiac arrest 18 hours after the incident.
The man was riding his motorcycle when the road suddenly caved in at around 6:29 p.m. on March 24, according to the fire department. Rescuers found Park’s body at around 11:22 a.m. on March 25, about 50 meters from the sinkhole.
The sinkhole, measuring 20 meters wide and 20 meters deep, opened up at the Daemyeong Elementary School intersection in Myeongil-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul.
A white van passed through the road just before the road collapsed. The van driver, 48-year-old Mr. Heo, sustained minor injuries and is receiving treatment.
Rescue operations initially faced challenges due to soil mixed with water leaking from the sewer system, complicating access to the site. Rescuers used drainage pumps to remove an estimated 2,000 tons of water before resuming search operations.
Authorities have not yet identified what caused the sinkhole. Experts have pointed to poor infrastructure management, aging pipes, and possible links to the ongoing subway construction. “We are not ruling out a connection to the subway construction,” said a Seoul Metropolitan Government official. ”We will need to conduct a detailed assessment before we can determine the exact cause.”
Four schools in the area - Seoul Daemyeong Elementary School, Hanyoung Middle and High Schools, and Hanyoung Foreign Language High School - were closed for the day due to safety concerns.
