A large "sinkhole" occurred near the construction site of Busan Sasang-gu urban railway. So far, there have been no reported casualties.
According to police and Sasang-gu on the 13th, around 5:40 a.m. that day, a large sinkhole measuring approximately 5m wide, 3m long, and 3-4m deep appeared at a crosswalk on a road in Hwangjang-dong, Sasang-gu.
About 40 minutes before the incident, employees of Sasang-gu received a report from police that "a sinkhole seemed likely to occur" and while implementing safety measures, the sinkhole occurred.
A Sasang-gu official noted that "the sinkhole occurred during safety measures on-site."
Currently, local governments and police are controlling the road, installing barriers, and proceeding with repair work.
The incident site is near the Busan Sasang-Hadan urban railway construction site. It is said to be just a few meters away from the Dong-Suh overpass, the longest elevated road in the city. Currently, the city of Busan and the construction company are also on-site investigating the cause.
At the Sasang-Hadan construction site, a large sinkhole also appeared last September, causing two trucks to fall 8m below. The Busan city underground accident investigation committee said on Feb. 18 that the incident was "presumed to be due to unusual heavy rain and flawed waterproofing construction methods."
The Sasang-Hadan line, which began construction in 2015, is a railway connecting Sasang Station on Line 2 of the urban railway to Hadan Station on Line 1, with construction aimed for completion by the end of next year.