Sinkhole swallows SUV on road in South Korean capital Seoul, injuring 2 occupants

Seoul, South Korea — 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 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 around 11:20 a.m. (10:20 p.m. Eastern, Wednesday), 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 Thursday evening as workers and officials repaired the damaged road and investigated the cause of the sinkhole.

Ju Isaac, a councillor for the local Seodaemun district, told CBS News he drove past the spot just minutes before the sinkhole opened and saw cars bouncing over the part of the 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. 

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 a 26-foot-deep sinkhole. 

Officials said she may have been swept away by an underground water current.

contributed to this report.