Written by Tyler Durden
A fragment of the busy Samsen Road in Bangkok collapsed Wednesday in a dramatic karst pit, breaking energy poles, dragging cars into the abyss and forcing them to evacuate as the films from the crash reflected in social media.
A crater of 900 square meters dived into depth about 50 meters, cutting 4 lanes of asphalt and stopping just before the police station. Authorities say 3 vehicles were damaged, but no casualties were reported miraculously.
Officials pointed to the ongoing construction underground as a likely trigger: it seems that the land leaking into a railway tunnel under the street undermined the foundations, tearing down the water ducts, which accelerated the collapse.
The Bangkok politician ordered the evacuation of close infirmary troops and a adjacent police station, while crews tried to stabilize the area due to monsoon conditions prevailing in the city.
Rescue actions are now in full swing: over 50,000 bags of sand, stones and rubble has been deployed to plug the yawning gap and halt further dirt collapse, while engineers race to reconstruct energy, water and public trust.
The draft metro on the purple line under which the collapse occurred faces expanding control, and the disaster is widely seen as a test of resilience of Bangkok infrastructure.
