A sinkhole swallows an SUV in South Korea, injuring 2 people

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A sinkhole suddenly opened and swallowed an SUV in South Korea’s capital on Thursday, injuring the two occupants, emergency workers said.

Photos from the scene showed a white sport utility vehicle engulfed in the 2 1/2-meter-deep (eight-foot-deep) hole that appeared on a street in the central part of Seoul.

Emergency workers rescued the vehicle’s 82-year-old male driver and a 76-year-old female passenger. No one else was hurt in the incident, which occurred at around 11:20 a.m. (0220 GMT), according to Seoul’s Seodaemun district fire station.

The conditions of the injured victims weren’t immediately known. Traffic in the Seondaemun area continued to be restricted as of Thursday evening as workers and officials repaired the damaged road and investigated the cause of the sinkhole.

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. Nearly half of those sinkholes were caused by damaged sewer pipes, the ministry said at the time.

Last week, a 48-year-old tourist from India disappeared in Malaysia’s capital when pavement collapsed beneath her and caused her to fall into an eight-meter-deep (26-foot-deep) sinkhole. Officials said that she may have been swept away by an underground water current.