South Korea rescuers search for missing motorcyclist swallowed up by sinkhole

A large sinkhole opened up along a Seoul road on Mar. 24, swallowing a passing motorcyclist and nearly taking a car as well.

Sinkhole

A video posted on social media of the incident shows the incident in terrifying detail.

A car is making its way along a three-lane street in the Gangdong District of the South Korean capital, Seoul, with a white SUV and a motorcycle travelling ahead of it.

Just after the two vehicles pass an intersection, the ground below the SUV suddenly gives way, eventually forming a sinkhole encompassing all three lanes.

The incident occurred at around 6.30 pm.

The SUV bounces as it hits the edge of the sinkhole but has enough momentum to carry it out of the hole, shuddering as it hits the ground on the other side and comes to a stop.

But the motorcyclist is not as lucky.

The hole opens just ahead of him, giving him barely seconds to react.

He can be seen immediately trying to stop his vehicle, even using his leg to try to slow down.

But he is unable to do so, falling into the expanding sinkhole.

The camera car pulls into the forecourt of a nearby petrol station, and in one corner of his video, the sinkhole can be seen expanding as a broken water pipe continues to pour water into the sinkhole.

Search operations

The motorcyclist remains missing, with Korea JoongAng Daily reporting that rescue personnel had resumed search operations as of 7 am on Mar. 25.

Overnight, the rescuers had found a mobile phone, presumed to belong to the motorcyclist, and then his motorcycle 30 meters underground, just after 1.30 am.

JoongAng Daily also reports that the SUV driver sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a hospital.

The operator of the nearby petrol station told JoongAng Daily that that wasn’t even the first collapse along the road that day.

Lee Cheong-Hee had reported a collapsed manhole along the road earlier that day, prompting the district office to conduct emergency repairs.

Lee said that he had filed a complaint about cracks in the floor of his petrol station forming since the end of February.

The petrol station has been closed since the opening of the sinkhole.

Update: As of 10 am (Singapore time), the BBC reports that the motorcyclist is confirmed to have died. His body was retrieved by rescuers after a 17 hour search, about 50 meters from where he had fallen into the sinkhole. 

Top image via @Tedchangsigi/X