TOKYO // Parts of a main street collapsed in a major city in southern Japan on Tuesday, creating a massive sinkhole and cutting off power, water and gas supplies.
Authorities in Fukuoka said no injuries were reported from the collapse that caused a sinkhole about half the size of an Olympic pool in the middle of its business district.
The cause of the sinkhole is under investigation, Fukuoka officials said, but they linked it to nearby subway construction. A smaller sinkhole occurred in Fukuoka in 2014 at another location of the subway construction.
Fukuoka, a city home to more than 1.5 million people, is about 1,000 kilometres south-west of Tokyo. The sinkhole appeared in the city’s bustling Hakata district, a major business and entertainment centre, with muddy underground water flowing into the hole.
The incident prompted the evacuation of nearby buildings. Officials were concerned that further erosion inside the sinkhole could prompt nearby structures to collapse.
“An accident like this is unheard of, one that should not have happened,” Fukuoka mayor, Soichiro Takashima, said. “We must prevent secondary accidents, and will do our utmost to restore important infrastructure.”
* Reuters Video and Associated Press
