Seoul, South Korea — A sinkhole suddenly opened and swallowed an SUV in South Korea’s capital on Thursday, injuring the two occupants, rescue workers said. Pictures from the scene showed a white sports utility vehicle engulfed in the eight-foot-deep hole that appeared on a street in the central part of Seoul.
Emergency personnel rescued the vehicle’s 82-year-old male driver and a 76-year-old female passenger. No one else was injured in the incident, which occurred around 11:20 a.m. (10:20 p.m. Eastern Wednesday), according to Seoul’s Seodaemun District Fire Station.
Handout/South Korean National Fire Authority
The conditions of the injured victims were not immediately known. Traffic in the Seondaemun area continued to be restricted Thursday evening as workers and officials repaired the damaged road and investigated the cause of the sinkhole.
Ju Isaac, a municipal councilor for the local Seodaemun district, told CBS News that he drove past the scene just minutes before the sinkhole opened and saw cars bouncing over the section of road, which appeared to be softening.
South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport told lawmakers last year that at least 879 sinkholes were reported in the country from 2019 to June 2023.
Almost half of those sinkholes were caused by damaged sewer pipes, the ministry said at the time.
Handout/South Korean National Fire Authority
Last week, a 48-year-old tourist from India disappeared in Malaysia’s capital when the pavement collapsed beneath her, sending her falling into a 26-foot-deep sinkhole.
Officials said she may have been swept away by an underground stream of water.
contributed to this report.