In a dramatic incident in Seoul's Seodaemun district on Thursday, a sudden sinkhole appeared on a busy road, engulfing an SUV and leaving its two elderly occupants injured. Images and videos going viral on X showed the white Tivoli SUV rolling over and crashing into the sinkhole that appeared without warning. The two elderly passengers – a woman in her 70s and a man in his 80s – sustained serious injuries and were swiftly transported to a nearby hospital.
The sinkhole, which opened unexpectedly around 11:20 a.m. local time, caused significant disruption in the area, resulting in severe traffic congestion, reported the Korea Herald. Dramatic images from the scene show the vehicle nearly fully swallowed by the massive hole.
Following the incident, authorities cordoned off the affected area and launched an investigation to determine the cause of the sinkhole. The Seoul Seodaemun district fire station confirmed that no other injuries were reported in the incident, Sky News reported.
The incident comes just days after a 48-year-old Indian tourist fell into a sinkhole in Kuala Lumpur. Vijayalakshmi, from Chittoor district's Animiganipalle village, was walking along a footpath when the ground gave way, swallowing her into an underground sewer.
Her husband and son managed to escape the collapse. Rescue operations are ongoing, with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu urging effective search efforts through the Andhra Pradesh Non-Resident Telugu (APNRT) Society.