Video: Massive sinkhole in Bangkok forces evacuations

Bangkok awoke to a dramatic and terrifying sight on Wednesday (September 24) morning: a massive sinkhole yawning open on Samsen Road in the Dusit district, right in front of Vajira Hospital.

The roughly 50-metre (160-foot) hole pulled down power lines and exposed a burst pipe gushing water just outside a local police station in a residential district of Bangkok, according to local media.

The collapse struck around 7 am, swallowing vehicles, utility poles, and chunks of the bustling urban thoroughfare in an instant.

Eyewitnesses captured the chaos on video — passersby fleeing as the ground crumbled like a fragile sandcastle, exposing a dark, water-slicked void beneath the city's surface.

This incident, unfolding amid Thailand's monsoon season, underscored the fragility of Bangkok's infrastructure amid rapid urbanisation.

Sediment-laden water gushed from a burst underground pipe, eroding the soil and exacerbating the collapse.

As the hole widened, it engulfed two electricity poles, a tow truck from the nearby Samsen Police Station, and three other vehicles, including a white pickup teetering perilously on the edge.

Power and water lines were severed, plunging the area into disarray and flooding the crater with murky runoff.

Miraculously, no lives were lost in the disaster.

However, the human toll was not negligible: several people suffered minor injuries during the frantic evacuations, primarily from slips on the uneven terrain or in the rush to safety.

Vajira Hospital, a key medical facility serving thousands, suspended outpatient services for two days, evacuating patients and staff as a precaution, though the building's structure remained intact.

Nearby residents and police were also ordered to flee, with authorities cordoning off a wide perimeter to prevent further mishaps.

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt, who rushed to the scene, attributed the collapse to soil erosion into an adjacent Purple Line subway tunnel under construction.

Local media reported that the site lay directly above the junction of the dual-track rail line and a planned MRT station, where a leaky pipe —possibly worsened by recent heavy rains — sucked away supporting earth.

"The soil was pulled into the tunnel, causing the subsidence," Chadchart explained, emphasising the risks of underground projects in a city built on soft, waterlogged soil.

By midday, repair crews from the Metropolitan Electricity Authority and water board were on site, pumping out water and stabilizing the edges.

Traffic snarled across central Bangkok, with detours amplifying the gridlock in a metropolis already strained by 10 million residents.

This event echoes past sinkholes in the Thai capital, like the 2018 collapse near a mall, but its proximity to a hospital amplified the panic.

As monsoon rains loomed, experts warned of potential expansion, prompting round-the-clock monitoring.

The Bangkok sinkhole serves as a stark warning: as the city hurtles toward a modern metro network, balancing progress with geological vulnerabilities is paramount.

For now, the crater stands as a scar on Samsen Road — a reminder that beneath the vibrant chaos of Bangkok, the ground can give way without warning.

[With inputs from AFP]